Security and the Headship of Christ [Luke]

So, in lieu of somewhat recently joining the fam, and reading through most of Pagan Christianity, I have had a realization…more of a reminder. As Lindsey and I slowly made this transition, we would discuss what we were contemplating (joining FTCC) with friends and acquaintances, and we would describe how FTCC works. One of the common “warnings” I would hear (only from 3 people, but that’s common enough for me) was that it is “dangerous” to have a church without a hierarchical leadership because people left to their own vices will get into some pretty stupid things such as poor theology and practicing improper disciplines. This is true, people left to make their own decisions will inevitably screw up, but here is the problem with that reasoning. If the Church is indeed to be a structure where Jesus is the head, then to say that there needs to be people to lead it is a statement of little faith. One of the greatest aspects so far of being in the FTCC is watching people listen to the Holy Spirit to guide their decisions, but at the same time, there is a body of believers who have intricately woven their lives together so that if someone is considering a misdeed in the name of the Holy Spirit or Jesus, it would not go unnoticed nor rebuked. Therefore, it would actually be more difficult to deviate from a “Christian” lifestyle, agree with poor theology or practice improper discipline because the body is looking to Jesus as the Head of the Church for guidance as opposed to some man (or woman) who is listening on behalf of everyone in their congregation. People are connected with others who are consistently connecting to Jesus, the Head, and this is what is the driving force of the Church (oh yeah! I capitalized it on purpose!).

Discovering God’s Heart for the Body [Jeremy]

When you consider what to bring do your best to set aside time during the week to ask God what he wants to build up in the body first.  What is God doing and building at FTCC and how can you play a part in what God is already doing.

Sometimes we might simply share what God is teaching us (which is good) but we can’t neglect what God is doing in the body collectively.  Remember this is not the responsibility of the elders, teachers or leaders but it’s up to everyone equally.

I’ve set aside time to pray each week for this tiny body and every week God has given me an idea, impression, passage topic etc. that may have nothing to do with what God is doing in me but is something he wants to build up in the body as a whole.

I imagine if everyone did this every week one thing that might often happen is God confirming a similar message through many members of the body (what’s more awesome than that?)

But this can only happen if we are all taping into the deep well of our individual relationships with God on behalf of the body and drawing out of that a gift only we could give.

Suggestions for the Gathering

I’ve been pondering and praying over the difficulty we had on Sunday getting into the right spirit. I’m not sure exactly all that was involved but I’d like to make the following suggestions -

• The host puts out the communion elements in the center of the gathering room (no other food) and puts on soft playing worship music 5 minutes before 9am.
  Body members who would like to chat do that in a different room or outside.
• From 8:55am on the gathering room is set apart only for seeking, listening to and responding to the promptings of the Spirit.
• If only 3 people are in the gathering room at 9am they can begin without waiting for others. Start to worship, pray or sit silently. But don’t feel the need to wait for anyone.
• Anyone who is struggling getting in the right spirit feel free to do whatever you need to – go for a walk, come late, go into another room or pray in the gathering room but don’t feel any pressure to “perform”.

And a few reminders of things we’ve discussed in the past-

• Anyone who feels led to “set the tone” feel free. This involves reminding the group that we are there to hear from the Spirit. Members of the body are invited to bring whatever they feel led for the strengthening and encouragement of the body (teaching, worship, word of revelation etc.). This is not necessary to get started. We can just jump right in but it is a good thing to do every week especially if we have people there that are fairly new.

• Beware of coming with a definite agenda or coming with a need to be filled. These are not bad things they are just not what the gathering is for. We gather to be led by the Spirit and to encourage the body. If you have prepared a teaching or have a song you believe will strengthen the body then submit that to the Spirit and if you feel led, boldly share. But never presume an agenda on the gathering because we don’t know if we’ll be led in another direction. We want Christ’s agenda to reign.

And a word of encouragement – Please remember this is a spiritual discipline and not a worship service which means, just like your own time alone with God, there are times that are great, times that are very frustrating and everything in between. This is NORMAL. We could plan a service that meets felt needs and so is encouraging every week but that is NOT what we are doing at the Gathering. This is His time and if He wants us to sit silently or experience miracles we will submit. I’m not discouraged at all by last week. I’m encouraged that as long as we love each other and honor the Lord by persevering in this discipline He will bless us with His presence and His guidance. But I do think we are meant to learn from last week and that is what I’m trying to do.

When the Church demonstrates anti-community

On a walk today I was struck by a new parking lot design used by one of our local churches. Perhaps you can see it from my camera phone pic.

It’s one of those rare parking lots where 7 or 8 cars block each other in a continuous row. Why my sudden interest in parking lots? Well, I realized the only time you would use this type of parking configuration is when you expect everyone to leave within about the same 5 minutes of each other.

The church is a body. That means we know each other, we love each other and we live life with one another. How sad when a church has become so community-less that you can pretty much count on the fact that everyone will leave at the exact same time (when the service lets out). There is so little chance that someone might actually stay and chat that you can set up your parking lot like a drive through.

And perhaps a few parishioners grabbed a drive-thru breakfast just before they stopped by the church for drive-thru religion. Not exactly Paul’s vision for the interconnected, interdependent body of Christ.

If you had 1 year to devote to discipleship training what you do?

During our Theology on Tap this month one of the questions we asked was how you would spend a year devoted to discipleship training.  My thoughts about training are in massive flux right now and I wanted to get some fresh perspective on the issue and I really enjoyed the discussion.

Audio quality isn’t great and yes those are crickets in the background (we’re on my porch) but if you crank it you can hear most of the discussion.

To listen click here -> 1 year of discipleship training podcast

(right click and “save target as” to download).

MAKE Disciples – the rest is just details

“We felt that if we could nurture people in small groups they would then be able to move into mission. We found that never happened. Not that it seldom happened—it never happened. Temperamentally, most people are either given to the inward journey but don’t want to be bothered with the outward work and getting their hands dirty with the poor; or they want to get out there with the poor and they don’t have time for the inward life – they’re just going to get the world fixed. We said both.” Gordon Cosby

I for one fell into this trap.  At first I assumed with 90% of Christendom that people were discipled by “going to church”.  That they grew from regularly and consistently listening to an endless number of sermons.  Once I saw that seemed to not make real disciples I began to agree with the other 10% of the church that disciples are made in small groups.  But after planting many very healthy small groups I watching their effect over years they almost never produced radical disciples.

I think I’m finally beginning to believe that disciples must be made.  Jesus said “go and MAKE disciples”.   Training like this can only be the outcome of a clear intentional process.  Jesus had a system for disciple making.  If your goal is have discipleship as a byproduct of another activity you’ll get no disciples.  Make discipleship the single goal and you’ll get everything else.

House Church Interviews from the RCA

It’s great to hear all of these independent voices saying the same thing together in a kind of harmony. There’s no question this is a movement of the Spirit of God in our day. Get involved and get behind what God is doing instead of simply asking God to bless what you’re doing.

Is the Universal Church an Institution or a Movement?

Continuing our conversation regarding the relative importance of intentional gatherings for the church, the most helpful way I’ve resolved this conflict and others (like whether to rent rooms, buy buildings or meet in homes) has been attempting to understand what type of thing the universal church is in its basic form.

I believe the distortion of the church began several generations after the early church when it morphed from an aggressive, scrappy movement of church planters trying to transform the world to an established, slow moving, rarely changing institution of society.

What is an Institution: Like universities, hospitals and government agencies institutions begin with a big idea that realize its vision over generations of steady establishment. They are pillars of society that can be trusted to be the same and provide the same services to my children and grandchildren as they did for me. They inspire people to give time, energy and money to solidify its form and function because those who build them are energized by the vision that they are establishing something to last and serve generations from cradle to grave in a consistent fashion.

What is a Movement: An idea that spawns a grass roots effort to transform a community, culture or the whole world. Like the Civil Rights Movement of the 60’s, time, energy and money went to short-term, aggressive efforts that struck at the heart of culture. Creative ideas are regularly attempted, change is the only constant and 100% of the resources are always utilized to the max.

When I read the New Testament, from beginning to end, it seems to resemble a movement and when I look across all aspects of the church today it resembles an institution in almost every one of its forms.

Even church planters, with movement like fervor, attempt to institutionalize what they’re building as quickly as possible by constructing buildings, refining church constitutions and stabilizing the regular activities of the parish.

My growing conviction is the church, as organic bodies, exists to fuel the establishment of the Kingdom of God but in the process they themselves have become the establishment and the movement has largely disappeared.

Nothing spoke this louder to me than during the 3 years I lived in the Northeast where our town had 14 Christian churches where only 1 of the 14 believed in the Gospel, the resurrection of Christ or the Inspiration of Scripture. All were planted by believers and now all are led by non-believers because these churches were institutionalized around resources rather than around an idea.

I want everything I build to have a natural self-destruct mechanism in it so that, if it strays from its original idea, it will quickly dissolve. This is the way of the movement; to expend all of its resources in short bursts of aggressive action and to leave nothing for institutionalized people to maintain long after its forgotten why it was built in the first place.

~ Jeremy

Can’t I do Church on the Internet?

Thanks Van for your thoughtful comments regarding the over-emphasized meeting-obsessed churchianity we see from the institutional church. Responding though to your comment -

“Personally, I have fellowship on the internet, on the telephone, at work, in the mall, and anytime, anywhere, without feeling compelled to “meet” in a formal meeting, as if that is what defines “following Jesus Christ”, and the key to salvation.

I am positive that the real Body of Believers, are simply all human beings in whom dwells the Holy Spirit. The one and only Head of that spiritual Body is Jesus Christ. I think it misses the point of being followers of Jesus Christ, to make Christians believe that to be a Christian means—either the institutional church, or home fellowships, as the definition of following Christ.”

I certainly agree with you to a point. The regular gatherings of the church are unfortunately treated often like the beginning and end of Christianity and the primary manifestation of the church (Christ’s Body) on Earth.

I must ask, however, is there any acknowledgment of a smaller local church in your paradigm that might choose to have a regular meeting time and place? Paul greets a number of separate churches in the city of Rome saying to one in Romans 16:5 “Greet also the church that meets at their house.” This would seem to indicate they had regular meetings and that they were a separate church within the city of Rome.

The church meeting as we know it today (typically including worship, announcements, sermon, benediction etc.) has no New Testament basis but I would argue that the idea that small bodies of believers held regular intentional gathering where the Spirit moved and believers were encouraged is supported in the New Testament. Paul details instructions for such gatherings in 1 Cor. 11-14.

I’m concerned that what you’re describing is an over-reaction to the current church model today instead of a balanced view emerging from a fresh, balanced study of the New Testament. These gathering are NOT “church” or “the body” but they ARE essential tools for building the Body of Christ and making life as the church what God intended.

~ Jeremy

The Skill of Gathering

“when you come together as a church…”

The Gathering is an essential tool and regular part of life as a body. It’s a time when the body listens to Christ as its head, when the Holy Spirit animates the parts of the body through spiritual gifts, when people minister to one another, pray for one another, and share their lives with one another, so that the body can be united, healthy and whole.

The three passages we use most frequently to understand the purpose and the practice of the Gathering are -

1 Corinthians 14:26 – “Well, my brothers and sisters, let’s summarize. When you meet together, one will sing, another will teach, another will tell some special revelation God has given, one will speak in tongues, and another will interpret what is said. But everything that is done must strengthen all of you.“

Hebrews 10:24-25 – “Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.“

1 Corinthians 12:24-27 – “So God has put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity. This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other. If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad. All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.“

We must never confuse the Gathering with the church. Gathering does not equal church but as Paul says repeatedly in 1 Corinthians the Gathering is when the church comes together. Church is the relational network, the body that lives life in a state of continual unity, love and interdependence. The Gathering is the regular meeting time used as a tool to assist the church in the development of its common life.

And like any tool you can be skilled at using it or poor at using it. In order for body churches to mature body members must become skilled at the Gathering. We have a long way to go in understanding how to use this essential tool but here are a few things we’ve picked up thus far.

1. Set the tone – Everyone comes to the gathering with preconceived ideas regarding it purpose. They also come with a variety of past experiences and often mistake the gathering for a Bible study, a support group, a social opportunity or some other familiar event and, therefore, we must be persistent in setting the correct tone in order to free the body to build itself up properly. Some elements critical to the tone of the gathering are -

• Acknowledging the headship of Christ
• Inviting the active movement of the Holy Spirit
• Encouraging Spirit led participation
• Creating an open atmosphere of vulnerability
• Remember the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus that founds our common life.

The real trick to setting the tone is to do it in such a way that offers the leadership necessary to keep the Gathering on track without being so heavy handed that other members of the body grow passive in their participation.

2. Keeping the tone

Once the tone of listening the Holy Spirit and following his leading is set there will be numerous distractions that will attempt to derail the gathering. Coming together under the headship of Christ and the guidance of the Holy Spirit in an atmosphere of love and mutual submission is the most dangerous thing our enemy could allow to go on unchecked. He will use a variety of tactics including

• Tiredness
• Crying children
• Endless rambling
• Jokes
• Insensitive comments

However, a body can become skilled enough at the gathering to identify a distraction and work together to immediately bring the meeting back on track. The freedom, love and unity that can be achieved at the gathering is powerful enough to change lives for eternity so a disciplined body that can remain for even an hour under the Spirit’s guidance can and will transform the cultures of the world.

3. Continuing the Tone

Being in submission to the Holy Spirit does not begin and end at the Gathering. If it is not carried on throughout the week not only will our life together be dis-empowered but the Gathering itself will be far less fruitful. The Spirit inspired atmosphere during the Gathering must permeate our lives and invigorate our own Spirit led walks.

In addition, the Holy Spirit often reveals thing to you during the gathering that are the very Word of God to you. It may be about another person in the group or it could be about you. When a Word comes to you it is critical to obey whether it involves -

• Serving another member of the Body
• Setting up a meeting to encourage and exhort someone in the Body
• Start something new that you are not currently doing
• Stop a practice God is calling you to give up

Being Spirit led throughout the week also allows you to come the Gathering prepared to give the Body what God has given you. Every week ever active member of the Body should seek to discover if God is calling you to bring something to the Body to use your gift to build it up. This could be

• A song
• A teaching
• A Word from the Lord
• A Word of encouragement
• A prophecy
• An act of service
• An act of hospitality
• An act of administration

We need to all understand and accept the learning curve involved with growing in our skill at the Gathering. The better we become at using this skill the more equipped we will be to plant, edify and reproduce Body Churches and expand the boundaries of the Kingdom of God.