Because we have reduced the church to our programs most of what we now do feels much more like a business that needs to be well-run that a family that needs the life-giving presence of the Holy Spirit. I do not believe we will value unity in the Spirit until we give up this approach that plagues nearly everything we do in the contemporary Protestant church.
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Thanks, John. Fully agreeing with what you shared, would this statement be theologically correct that “our ecclesiology has exceeded our Christology”? Thus, what we do as a church becomes more prominent that who Christ is and what He has done.
Someone said that the work of God starts out as a movement, and then becomes a method, then a monument, and finally a museum. Ludicrous as it sounds, when method prevails, it almost seems as though God is dependent on the church/Christians to advance the work of God, rather than the other way around, as you said.
Let me ask a correlary question…
Has the church traded discipleship for programs? Even what we call “Discipleship Training” is a program with an instructor up front and instructees in the seats. A far cry from “as you sit down, as you rise up and as you walk along the way.”
I agree with Ben’s comments completely though a pretty radical divorce between Christology and ecclesiology has deeply harmed much evangelicalism.
John is spot on too. Even “discipleship” training is another program, not a lifestyle learned under care and love. We are pragmatists and look for results. God looks for life and changing our story in the process.
The Lausanne Theology Working Group paper “The Whole Church taking the whole Gospel to the whole world” has issues a warning that sounds similar to this, John. They write, “But we want to stress that the church exists for God, and should not be used as a convenient local franchise for the delivery of external strategies, objectives and targets.” Do you think this is the same thing that you are talking about?
I have some questions about what this actually looks like. I invite your feedback here: http://codylorance.blogspot.com/2010/10/local-church-or-local-franchise.html
I am so glad you are going to South Africa to the new Lausanne conference. I am praying for you Cody.
Yes, I think this does get very close to what I am saying here. I believe this means the church does not look like a store that dispenses goods and services but a family that embraces and restores people to health in a community of love. There is a lot more but this directs the general idea at least.
Thank you for your prayers, John. I leave next Wednesday.