A Mess of Thoughts
I’m thinking about The Church. I’m trying to not only figure out where I fit, but also figure out what fits me. Here are some very random, incomplete and unorganized thoughts to mull over:
1. Mission/Vision/Values VS. Calling: I’ve never been a big fan of business language in relation to The Church, but at the same time I’ve experienced the benefits first hand of clarity in an organizational setting. Yet, I wonder what the body of Christ on earth would be like if we lived out (read: struggled, experimented, took time, waited, sacrificed, loved, hoped, trusted) both our global and local calling(s) as opposed to setting up a makeshift business plan that, if we are honest with ourselves, is more about tracking progress and measuring effectiveness than anything else.
2. Mix&Match: As a disciple of Christ, is it possible to mix and match the parts of Christendom that we most resonate with? Can we borrow from Christian traditions outside our own and at the same time minimize the emphasis on some of the distinctives we once held to? For example, can one be Pentecostal in experience, yet still embrace the practice of silence and solitude? Or, can one believe in limited atonement, hold to Catholic views of Mary the mother of Jesus and be a post-millenialist?
3. Individualism and Annonymity: Truly a cancer in this era of North American Christendom.
4. Measuring Sticks: Numbers? No thanks. ‘Worship Units’? Please, no. Efficiency? Out of place, so no. Accountability? Hmmm…maybe you’re onto something…
Filed by Joe at December 6th, 2005 under Rants
You have a blog.
That’s fun. I’m glad you finally joined the inevitable.
Individualism and Annontymity has been the one that has been strongest on my mind. I know i hate it, and i know i want it to change, but i don’t think it will work. I don’t know how to help bring change and i don’t think people want what’s better and the opposite. We were talking about the other day about those few churches in the states that are fairly new ‘emergent’ style churches and they are monastaries, actually full out communities of beleivers ACTUALLY living together. Can you imagine a church where most of them live in the same area, or apartment building, and continually share their lives together? I would love to see it. But is that real?
Then i’m trying to understand the evolution of the church, and maybe that’s just not a step that we should be waiting/hoping for. Maybe it looks different. Maybe community today is supposed to be different than that in the early church. Afterall the early church isn’t a diagram of what we are supposed to mimic, it was just the way it was 2000 years ago. So what should it look like now?
Comment by Nathan Colquhoun — December 7, 2005 @ 9:10 am