On Community
First of all I need to apologise for my 'rant' from a couple of days ago. I realise I was a bit uncharitable about some things, and in true rantish form, it was a knee-jerk reaction - an expression of my frustrations. But what is a blog for if I can't spill my guts when I want/need to?
At the end of the rant though, I referred to a soundbite that I'd heard on Wednesday, namely, "Churches that disengage from their communities do not love God."
Glenn helpfully pointed out in the comments that "disengaging" assumes that our churches were engaged in the first place. And yes, "it is a truth universally acknowledged" that our churches are not, by and large, significantly engaged in the life of their local communities. Mine included. (Though we dream...!) Most churches are, at best, a "community" for a couple of hours on a Sunday morning (and possibly for a couple hours on Tuesday or Wednesday night - if you're 'really committed to the vision of the church'), and at worst, merely a religious goods and services provider for the occasional church visit (say, Christmas and Easter).
Most churches don't exist beyond those stated occasions - and I use the word exist intentionally - for a church is neither a 'worship service' one attends, surely, nor a building in which religious activities are held. If that is all the church is, then between those times when the 'service' is held (and perhaps even then), it is a dead thing, non-existent, merely an institutional activity that bears no resemblance to the church Jesus founded by Blood and Fire.
The church, I believe, is meant to be a living body of people, gathered together and committed to one another in Christ. The loving relationships, the "one anothering", the supporting and carrying, the rebuking, exhorting, helping, praying, protecting, discipling, teaching, healing, and proclaiming that is meant to be the staple of the true church, is supposed to stand as a witness to the world - testifying to the present/future reality of the Kingdom and its loving King. The love we have for one another is the best example that "He is amongst us", and is present in our life together. In fact, it could be the 'only' example, for if we take Paul seriously in 1 Cor 13, we must conclude that even if a church goes through the motions, even if it does the religious stuff, but without a foundation of love, it is nothing.
All that to say this: God's love in us, and our love for other believers, is not simply 'for us'. It is my conviction that love seeks out its object: those who are outside, those lost, those who have left the Father's house. If we are filled with the love of God "poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit" we will be moved to find the object of God's love - those who are sick, broken, weak, the sinners, the ones in need of a physician. The love of God yearns within us to be released into the lives of those who have not yet found what they are looking for: "deep cries out to deep."
The point is, we must confront this troubling reality that churches un-engaged from their communities are clearly not living as they are called, and worse, may not have any sense at all of the love of God. They neither love God, nor know His love. For if they were filled with God's love, they would be very very upset about their general lack of compassion and longing for those lost.
Assuming then, that all evangelism is meant to be a response to the love of God, experienced in the grace of our Lord Jesus, then mission must always remain at the heart of the church for God is love, and Jesus was living out the missio Dei because he loved the Father, and desired above all else, to do the will of the Father. The will of the Father is to seek and save the lost. And it is not simply about saving people's backsides from the darkness of hell, it is about responding to the love of God.
So, with that said, I am going to spend the next few days pondering the questions implied in the quote above, which are, "what is community?" and "what does it mean for our church to engage it?"
Should be fun.
At the end of the rant though, I referred to a soundbite that I'd heard on Wednesday, namely, "Churches that disengage from their communities do not love God."
Glenn helpfully pointed out in the comments that "disengaging" assumes that our churches were engaged in the first place. And yes, "it is a truth universally acknowledged" that our churches are not, by and large, significantly engaged in the life of their local communities. Mine included. (Though we dream...!) Most churches are, at best, a "community" for a couple of hours on a Sunday morning (and possibly for a couple hours on Tuesday or Wednesday night - if you're 'really committed to the vision of the church'), and at worst, merely a religious goods and services provider for the occasional church visit (say, Christmas and Easter).
Most churches don't exist beyond those stated occasions - and I use the word exist intentionally - for a church is neither a 'worship service' one attends, surely, nor a building in which religious activities are held. If that is all the church is, then between those times when the 'service' is held (and perhaps even then), it is a dead thing, non-existent, merely an institutional activity that bears no resemblance to the church Jesus founded by Blood and Fire.
The church, I believe, is meant to be a living body of people, gathered together and committed to one another in Christ. The loving relationships, the "one anothering", the supporting and carrying, the rebuking, exhorting, helping, praying, protecting, discipling, teaching, healing, and proclaiming that is meant to be the staple of the true church, is supposed to stand as a witness to the world - testifying to the present/future reality of the Kingdom and its loving King. The love we have for one another is the best example that "He is amongst us", and is present in our life together. In fact, it could be the 'only' example, for if we take Paul seriously in 1 Cor 13, we must conclude that even if a church goes through the motions, even if it does the religious stuff, but without a foundation of love, it is nothing.
All that to say this: God's love in us, and our love for other believers, is not simply 'for us'. It is my conviction that love seeks out its object: those who are outside, those lost, those who have left the Father's house. If we are filled with the love of God "poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit" we will be moved to find the object of God's love - those who are sick, broken, weak, the sinners, the ones in need of a physician. The love of God yearns within us to be released into the lives of those who have not yet found what they are looking for: "deep cries out to deep."
The point is, we must confront this troubling reality that churches un-engaged from their communities are clearly not living as they are called, and worse, may not have any sense at all of the love of God. They neither love God, nor know His love. For if they were filled with God's love, they would be very very upset about their general lack of compassion and longing for those lost.
Assuming then, that all evangelism is meant to be a response to the love of God, experienced in the grace of our Lord Jesus, then mission must always remain at the heart of the church for God is love, and Jesus was living out the missio Dei because he loved the Father, and desired above all else, to do the will of the Father. The will of the Father is to seek and save the lost. And it is not simply about saving people's backsides from the darkness of hell, it is about responding to the love of God.
So, with that said, I am going to spend the next few days pondering the questions implied in the quote above, which are, "what is community?" and "what does it mean for our church to engage it?"
Should be fun.
posted by Timbo at 9:59 am
3 Comments:
Tim. These last couple posts have been inspired. I think you're asking all the right questions. I would love to be a part of a church that looks at things this way. I've looked at my church before and compared how much energy/time/resources are spend doing things for ourselves and how much we invest in our community and I shake my head.
Er... after posting/reading my own comment, i thought i should try again. In English this time.
Tim. These last couple posts have been inspired. I think you're asking all the right questions and I would love to be a part of a church that looks at things this way. I've looked at my church before comparing how much energy/time/resources we spend doing things for ourselves vs our community and I shake my head. We're barely even making an effort.
My focus of today has been enjoying fresh air and sunshine. This post fits perfectly into my saturday as it is both a breath of fresh air and a ray of sunshine.
I don't care where church is emerging from: itself, the culture around it, or even (dare I suggest?) emerging from "nothing" through the creative nature of the Holy Spirit ("something from nothing" being one of His most wonderful attributes ;)
I don't care where it emerges from, so long as it is totally wrapped up in what timbo talks of here.
"breathe, breathe in the air" - Pink Floyd
Post a Comment
<< Home