Assumptions about Church

Mark at "the untried" wrote an important article a few days ago called "Assumptions #1". I assume this means there will be more articles on the same topic. In this first article, Mark sets the stage as follows:

Since making the choice to step outside the walls of institutional church I have had many people say the same things to me over and over. They make assumptions about me and my reasons for my choices that are simply untrue.

What assumptions do people make when they find out that Mark is not part of an institutional church? 1) He chose not to attend church because it was inconvenient. 2) He is a failure as a man, husband, and father. 3) He is a heretic with no commitment to Christ. 4) He has been deceived and he is leading his family astray.

Then, Mark says the following:

Convenient would be making a habit of walking back through the doors of church every Sunday morning. All the accusations would stop. All the "I'm concerned for you" talks would stop. I would receive pats on the back from those in the church. They would praise my Godliness for being there. I would receive a hero's welcome as if the mere act of stepping through the doors had suddenly made me a 'good Christian' again. That would be easy. It would be convenient. It would stroke my ego.

When we associate "attending an church service" with maturity or discipleship, then we are making wrong assumptions about the church. The church is much more than attendance or having your name associated with an institutional church.

Its time for the church to stop worrying about whether or not others attend "worship services". Instead, we need to be concerned about discipleship, fellowship, transformation, service, etc. Can these things happen for a person who is part of an institutional church? Yes. Can these things happen for a person who is not part of an institutional church? Yes. Are there advantages to one over the other? Yes, I think so.

Newbigin on Church and Mission

A few weeks ago, I quoted Lesslie Newbigin from his book The Household of God (Friendship Press, 1954) in a post called "More ready to submit than to impose". As I said in that post, I thought Newbigin description of the work of the Spirit in the meeting of the church is one of the best that I've read.

However, Newbigin's book does not focus on the community aspect of the church alone. In fact, his ecclesiology is often called a "Missionary Ecclesiology". Newbigin does not believe that the community aspect of the church can be separated from the missional aspect of the church. He says, however, that the church often treats this as dichotomies:

The most obvious evidence is the fact that, in the thinking of the vast majority of Christians, the words "Church" and "Mission" connote two different kinds of society. The one is conceived to be a society devoted to worship, and the spiritual care and nurture of its members. It is typically represented by a large and ancient building. The other is conceived to be a society devoted to the propagation of the Gospel, passing on its converts to the safe keeping of "the Church"... The two cannot become one until a very deep and widespread change has taken place in the thinking of the Churches about their own nature, until they have come to see, and to express in the ordinary life of the Church, the truth that the Church has all its treasure entrusted to it for the sake of the world, and that therefore mission belongs to the very substance of the Church's life.

Although Newbigin wrote this over fifty years ago, I think it still describes the predominant thought among Christians: church and mission are separate. However, as Newbigin explains, this false dichotomy demonstrate that most Christians do not understand the nature or purpose of the church.

I've written about this before is a post called "The Gathered and the Sent". We must recognize that we are gathered by God out of the world. This "gathering together" must include more than meeting for the sake of meeting. Instead, as the gathered people of God, we must seek unity and community and fellowship that is deep and life-altering because it is created and nurtured by the Spirit of God.

However, our community life has a purpose - to express the Gospel, the love, the mercy, and hope of Jesus Christ to the world. The community cannot exist for its own benefit alone. Instead, the community (the church) exists to demonstrate God (to exegete Him, if you will) to the world that is not part of the community.

Thus, community and mission go hand-in-hand. If we attempt to separate them, then we will not have community or mission, regardless of what we call them. We must recognized that we (all of us!) are both a gathered people and a sent people.

Today is Blog Comment Day

Here are the posts that I commented on today for Blog Comment Day:

"As the Spirit Leads" by Julie from "onehandclapping"
"Brad Sargent Quote" by Rick from "Blind Beggar"
"We All Wanna Be Loved" by Joel from "Grace Roots"
"The Church - Ecclesiology - Part 1" from "Online Bible Study Group" (new to me)
"What if There Was Only Seven" by Jeromy from "A Mending Shift"
"Who is Carrying Your Mat" by Jon from "97SECONDSWITHGOD" (new to me)
"Hubble and Christmas Part Two" by Cameron from "Spirit Cry" (new to me)
"What Would Have Made a Difference" by Jamey from "A Life Transormed"
"Disciples or Converts" by grace at "kingdom grace"
"Contract Pastoring" by Lew at "The Pursuit"
"Discipleship in Your Community" by Jonathan at "Missio Dei"
"Ethics Topics: Alcohol Consumption" by Amber at "an examined life"

If you want to take part, its not too late. Here are the rules:

• On December 3, 2008 you will leave one comment on at least 5 different blogs.
• Out of the 5 blogs you comment on, at least 2 of them will be blogs you haven't commented on previously.

Self-Serving or Other-Serving

I love it when my friends - that is, people that I know "in real life" - write blog posts that express something that I've heard them talk about personally. Matthew at "The Journey" recently did this in a post called "The Art of Seeking One's Self".

Matthew begins by sharing a story that happened at his work. He shared this story with the church, and how God used this circumstance to convict him of his own self-centeredness. In his blog post, Matthew writes:

Of course, this is no isolated incident. I usually hide it a little better though. That's why I titled this the art of self-seeking. Because that's what I've honed it to, an art form. I can be selfish while making it seem like I'm not. I can serve my own needs while seeming to serve others. Now this isn't always the case, many times I have genuinely served others with no gain to myself. But have I gone out of my way to do this? Have I searched for opportunities? Have I genuinely loved my neighbor more than myself?

What great questions to ask of ourselves! Are we actually serving others, or are we simply serving ourselves? Are we seeking the best for others, or are we seeking the best for ourselves?

I'm so excited that God has placed me among people like Matthew - people who are willing to share their lives with their friends and with the world.

What Church Structures Hide

Our church has structure, but it is a very flexible - almost invisible - structure. In fact, some suggest that we have no structure and no organization. In fact, this is impossible for a group of people. However, we try to make sure that our structure does not dominate or dictate how we meet or how we interact with one another. We try to have a structure and an organization that encourages relationships - almost forces relationships.

Because of this, we've noticed a problem. People do not know how to live and serve in relationships with one another. While almost everyone agrees that believers are to live in community - relationship - with one another, it is becoming obvious that very few actually do this.

In fact, it is becoming clear that many church structures allow people to think that they are living and serving in community, while in reality there is no relationship, or at best very shallow relationships.

Let me give you an example. A few years ago, Margaret and I were part of a children's ministry. I was director of this ministry, while Margaret was one of the teachers. We had several other teachers and leaders and helpers that served within this ministry. In the eyes of the church leadership, this ministry was "successful" because we involved large numbers of adults and served large numbers of children.

But, in reality, looking back, we did not have strong relationships with either the adults involved in the ministry or with the children that we served. (We did have a strong relationship with one family, but that relationship existed before we served together in this ministry.) Why were we able to serve "successfully" without relationships? Because the structures propped it up. We each had a position and a job description. We did what we were supposed to do. It was fun and rewarding for the kids, so they came.

A few years later we are not involved with that ministry and we are not involved in the lives of any of the people involved. We did our thing, now its over. So what? Was the body of Christ built up? I'm sure God did many good things through this ministry, just as he often does. But, honestly, we did not experience the fellowship of the Spirit with one another. We did serve because we knew one another and knew how to encourage one another toward maturity in Christ. We served because that was our ministry responsibility.

Church structures hide the fact that believers - for the most part - do not know how to live and serve in relationship with one another. We know how to do our duty, but we don't know how to accept, listen, love, and serve one another. We know how to run our programs, but we don't know how to get to know one another so that we can meet one another's needs. We know how to hold Bible studies, but we don't know one another well enough to know what we need to teach or to learn.

So, what happens when those church structures are removed? What happens when there are no programs or ministries or Bible studies? For the most part, people do not know what to do, because the do not know how to have relationships with one another, and serve through those relationships. We know how to live with our structures, but not with one another.

Our church structures are hiding our lack of fellowship with one another, which is indeed a lack of fellowship with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. (1 John 1:3)

Blog Comment Day Reminder

Tomorrow is Blog Comment Day. John Smulo at smulospace has named December 3 as "Blog Comment Day 2008".

Why did John start Blog Comment Day? He says, "Though there may be 100 reasons why people blog, I've yet to meet a blogger who doesn't appreciate comments. For this reason I'm starting Blog Comment Day on December 3, 2008."

Here are the rules:

• On December 3, 2008 you will leave one comment on at least 5 different blogs.


• Out of the 5 blogs you comment on, at least 2 of them will be blogs you haven't commented on previously.

I've decided that I'm going to publish a list of blog posts that I comment on tomorrow night. If you take part in Blog Comment Day, why not post a list so that other people can follow your conversations as well. If you do not have a blog, feel free to post a list of your comments here.

Reimagining Church

I realize that many people have reviewed Frank Viola's latest book, Reimagining Church. Unfortunately, because of school responsibilities, I had not been able to finish reading it until the Thanksgiving break. However, I have managed to stay away from other reviews. So, this post will be my own thoughts concerning this book.

(If you're interested I wrote about one particular part of Reimagining Church in a post called "A Quote from Reimagining Church". I also wrote about Viola's previous book, Pagan Christianity, in two posts: "Living in the Necessary" and "Yet another review of Pagan Christianity".)

Viola's purpose in writing Reimagining Church was to legitimize from Scripture the beliefs and practices of simple, organic churches. In reality, he does not attempt to "reimagine" the church as much as he attempts to "rediscover" the church as found in the pages of the New Testament. In doing so, he also calls into questions many of the beliefs and practices of "institutional churches".

The book is divided into two parts: "Community and Gathering" and "Leadership and Accountability". Since my area of research is the gathering of the church, I was especially interested in the first part. However, as I've found in my own research and life, it is impossible to separate ideas about the gathering of the church from ideas about leadership.

In part one, "Community and Gathering", Viola describes the organic nature of the church as found in Scripture. He sets the tone and direction on the first page of the section:
The New Testament uses many images to depict the church. Significantly, all of these images are living entities: a body, a bride, a family, one new man, a living temple made up of living stones, a vineyard, a field, an army, a city, etc. (32)

Given the organic nature of the church, Viola next suggests that this nature should carry over into the meeting of the church, which should also be organic in nature instead of being institutional in nature. He also says that while Scripture does not define the church but describes it in metaphors, the chief metaphor for the church in the New Testament is the family.

Perhaps the most important chapter in part one is chapter 7: "Church Practice and God's Eternal Purpose". He says, "The church, then, is not only called to proclaim the gospel, but to embody it by its communitarian life". (147) Viola suggests that while the church today does many good things, it is missing its purpose and mission as the community of God.

In part two (the longer of the two sections), Viola discusses leadership, authority, and submission. He points out that Scripture describes leadership among the church as service, not decision-making. However, he also says that leaders are to provide oversight, which is "watching out for the spiritual well-being of the church". But, when it comes to decision-making, decisions should be made by a consensus of the entire church, not by the leaders.

Viola uncovers the fact that the idea of "spiritual covering" is not found in Scripture, and he discusses at length the difference between official authorities (such as kings, magistrates, and judges) who have authority based on their position, and organic authority which is "communicated authority", that is "when a person communicates God's life through word or deed". Organic authority is not based on position but on function and service.

Finally, Viola tackles the unscriptural disunity and division caused by denominationalism. He says that the church should return to the apostolic tradition:

The tradition of the apostles is not a codified set of prescribed rules that the apostles created... Technical correctness and outward conformity to a prescribed form of church order has never been God's desire... What, then, is the apostolic tradition? First, it contains the stories and teachings of Jesus. These are contained in the Gospels. Second, it includes the commands and practices of the apostles that were passed on to all the churches. The apostolic tradition, therefore, represents the normative beliefs and practices of the church of Jesus Christ. Beliefs and practices that were prescribed for each and every church (1 Cor. 4:16-17; 11:16; 14:33-38). (italics in original) (243-245)

I think that most people who read this book will fall into one of two camps. The first camp includes that who are comfortable with the methods, practices, and beliefs of the institutional church. For people who fall into this camp, Viola will not persuade many. Why? Because they will chalk up Viola's book to misinterpretation and misrepresentation of the Scriptures. There are entire hermeneutical traditions used to prop up the institutional church, and these props will not fall easily. However, some in this camp will thank Viola for pointing out that the institutional church needs to be tweaked. This was not Viola's goal.

The second camp includes those who recognize that the institutional church and its methods, beliefs, and practices stand on shaky - or sandy - ground. For these people, Viola's book will help them understand that the church is more than buildings, hierarchies, and programs. It will also help them to recognize the validity of their own associations with other believers outside of the institutional church.

And for me? Well, I find myself in the second camp. I agreed with almost everything that Viola said. For other parts of the book - those parts that I did not agree with right away - it was primarily because Viola presented something that I had not thought about.

Chapter 7, "Church Practice and God's Eternal Purpose", is one of those parts. The more I think about this chapter, the more I agree with Viola. I've talked with him about this some, and I'm excited that his next book will unwrap some of the concepts that he introduced in this book.

One point of disagreement that I had as I read the book concerns meeting location. Viola discusses the evidence from Scripture that the church primarily met in homes. I agree with this. However, Viola says that meetings in other locations (i.e. the temple in Acts 2:26, synagogues in various places in Acts, or in the School of Tyrannus in Acts 19:9-10), these meetings were not normal church meetings, but special evangelistic meetings or apostolic meetings. However, when we search Scripture, these meetings are not called "evangelistic meetings" or "apostolic meetings". In fact, Scripture does not distinguish between any different types of meetings. The church should act the same wherever it meets and for whatever reason it meets.

After reading this chapter, I talked with Viola. He agreed that the meeting place is not as important as the life of the church. If the meeting place hinders life, then the church should meet in a different place. If the meeting place does not allow the church to meet in an organic fashion, then the church should meet elsewhere. I agree with this completely.

I hope many people continue to read Reimagining Church - I would recommend highly! While I do not think it will convince those who are content with the institutional church, I still think it would be valuable for them to read it.

If you have read this book, please let me know what you thought about it. If you plan to read it, let me know, and let me know why you plan to read it. If you do not plan to read Reimagining Church, please tell me why you've chosen not to read it also.

Bubble or Cocoon

Mark at "the untried" published a very good post last week called "The Church of the Christian Cocoon". He writes about being a "good Christian" according to the predominant Christian culture in the US. But, what about to those who need to know Christ? Mark writes:

The list could be endless. The point is I have come to realize that when I was fully immersed in the Christian culture I did all the right things to be considered a model Christian within that culture. I followed all the rules, regulations, legalisms, doctrines, and creeds as well as anyone I knew. I played the game. Yet, when I ask one simple question it all crumbles around me.

Did those who needed Christ the most see him in me?

The answer to that is unfortunately a resounding no. Those in my circle patted me on the back. To them I was a good Christian. I was living my life for God. But was I really? Sadly, the answer to that question is no also. My life rarely touched anyone for Christ that did not already call themselves a Christian.

There is a problem when a believer's life rarely touches the life of an unbeliever. I wrote about this in a few posts last year. But, I called the phenomenon living in a "Christian bubble":

Bursting the Christian Bubble
Reaching Beyond the Bubble
Bursting the Christian Bubble: update 1

Whether you call it a cocoon or a bubble, God does not call his children to huddle together apart from the world. He calls us to be in the world even though we are not of the world. In the last year especially, God has been teaching us to step out of our bubble.

Are living in a Christian cocoon or a Christian bubble? Get out! You won't find your calling or purpose inside that bubble!

Was Timothy the Bishop of Ephesus?

According to tradition, Timothy was the first bishop of Ephesus. In the article on "Ephesus" in Eerdman's Dictionary of the Bible (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000), David E. Aune writes, "Timothy is remembered as the first bishop of Ephesus ([Eusebius] HE 3.4.6), a tradition probably based on 1 Tim. 1:3". (415)

Notice that Aune gives Eusebius of Caesaria as the source of this early tradition. In fact, he references Eusebius' Church History (Ecclesiastical History) 3.4.6. What exactly does Eusebius say about Timothy?

Timothy, so it is recorded, was the first to receive the episcopate of the parish in Ephesus, Titus of the churches in Crete. (Eusebius Ecclesiastical History 3.4.6)

In fact, Eusebius does not cite his source for this information concerning Timothy. In many other instances, Eusebius specifically indicates which sources he used for his history. In fact, Eusebius' writings contain quotations or references to many sources that no longer exist in another form. We know this because he tells us these sources.

But, when it comes to Timothy being the first bishop of Ephesus, Eusebius does not give us a source. He simply says, "So it is recorded". Where was it recorded? We don't know because he doesn't tell us.

Aune suggests that Eusebius bases this tradition on 1 Timothy 1:3. What does that text say?

As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine... (1 Timothy 1:3 ESV)

1 Timothy 1:3 does not say that Timothy was the bishop of Ephesus. In fact, Timothy is never called a bishop or a pastor or an elder. (The same could be said of Titus as well.)

However, Paul may have called Timothy an apostle (1 Thessalonians 1:1; 2:6), and he encourages Timothy to be a good deacon (1 Timothy 4:6).

In fact, while Paul leaves Timothy in Ephesus (1 Timothy 1:3), we do not know that Timothy was still in Ephesus when Paul wrote his second letter to him. Whether Timothy received Paul's second letter at Ephesus or not, Paul did not expect Timothy to remain there (2 Timothy 4:13).

Why does it matter whether or not Timothy was a bishop in Ephesus?

Whenever there is a discussion concerning senior or solo pastors, those in favor tend to point to Timothy as the scriptural example. Whenever there is a discussion of "calling" pastors from outside the local body, those in favor tend to point to Timothy as the scriptural example.

But, we must remember, that the evidence for Timothy being a pastor/bishop/elder, much less THE pastor/bishop/elder, of Ephesus is based on one line that Eusebius wrote almost 300 years later without citing his source.

Advent 1 - Waiting WITH Jesus

Today is the first Sunday of Advent. Advent (from adventus, Latin for "coming") marks the time when the church thinks about the first coming of Jesus Christ as a baby in Bethlehem, and also thinks about the second coming of Jesus Christ in the end times. The focus today is "waiting expectantly".

The Jews waited expectantly for their Messiah. This expectation is exemplified in Anna and Simeon who rejoiced when they met Jesus as a baby in Jerusalem. Similarly, Christians are told to wait expectantly for the second coming of Christ. We are to live as if that coming could be any moment.

But, apart from the past coming and the future coming - both of which are very important - how should followers of Jesus Christ live in light of the present coming of Jesus? Present coming, you may ask? Yes. While Jesus left this earth physically, he sent his Spirit. In fact, he said that it was better for us to have his Spirit than to have him physically present.

Thus, Jesus is physically present in the Spirit of God who indwells every believer. Jesus came in the past, and he is coming in the future. But, he also comes today. How do we wait expectantly in light of his present coming and future coming?

This is what Paul wrote to Titus:

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. (Titus 2:11-14 ESV)

As we wait for the future, physical coming of Jesus Christ, we wait in the reality of his present, spiritual coming - that is, his presence with us - as Immanuel. But, we do not wait idly. In fact, in light of both his presence and his future coming, we wait with a purpose and a mission.

First, we are to mature in holiness - renouncing ungodliness and worldly passions, and living self-controlled, upright, and godly lives. Second we are to be enthusiastic in our service of other people (zealous for good works). Each of these (holiness and good works) are impossible apart from the real presence of Jesus Christ.

As we wait for Jesus' future coming, we do not waith alone. No, instead we wait with Jesus. And, we do not wait idly, as if there is nothing more for us here. No, instead we wait with purpose and mission, seeking to submit to the Spirit and to one another in order to mature in both holiness and service.

How are you waiting WITH Jesus?

Scripture... As We Live It #30

Here is entry #30 in my series "Scripture... As We Live It":

I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you to me in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were I was enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge - even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you in me - so that you are I am not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you I wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you me to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 1:4-8 re-mix)

Pastor of a Restaurant?

A friend called Friday morning and asked if I would be willing to pick him up at the airport. Of course, I was willing, and I enjoyed the time we had together as I drove him from the airport to the restaurant where he works.

As we drove, we talked about several things - Thanksgiving, family, school, etc. At one point I asked him what God was doing in his life. He said he didn't understand why it was taking him so long to get through school, but that lately he was thinking that when he graduated he would try to attend a culinary school with plans to open a restaurant.

How exciting! He doesn't just want to open a restaurant so that he can make money, even though he is excited about food and creating new restaurants. He's interested in giving people an atmosphere where they can meet together and try new food.

You see, my friend is a student at a seminary. But, he's not planning to be employed by a church organization. He's willing to learn a skill so that he can support himself and his family, and that gives him a chance to serve others. I can't wait to see how God uses this young man!

Listening, Learning, Serving

About a year and a half ago, I wrote a post called "Listening, learning, serving". The purpose of this post was to encourage believers to listen and learn from people before they jump in and try to serve them. As I've learned to do this, I've heard time and time again from people, "Usually when people come to our neighborhood to help, they do things that don't really help us." Are you willing to spend the time to get to know people and then serve them in ways that actually help?

--------------------------------------------

Listening, Learning, Serving

I've had an ongoing conversation over the last few days with my wife, Margaret, and a good friend of ours (Theron from "Sharing in the Life"). Actually, for me, the conversation started a couple of days before that when another friend of ours made a comment about some ladies that we have not seen lately, whom we have tried to serve, but for some reason, we have failed to serve them. This comment led to our continuing conversation about service - particularly about serving people who are different from us: people from different cultures, different ages (generations), different beliefs, etc.

Theron and I began talking about serving people from foreign cultures: specifically, how would we serve people if we lived in a foreign culture? I realize that many people who read this blog deal with this question (and similar questions) every day of their life. Theron suggested that before we could serve someone, we would have to know how to serve them. In other words, in different cultures service may be different (and probably is) than service in our ow