David Rudd

The "Ideal" Church

Page history last edited by david 2 yrs ago

Philosophy of Ministry
Celebratory Gatherings
PART ONE - Philosophy
PART TWO - Pragmatics
Missional Group Relationships
Living in Harmony
A Primer on Community
Description of Community Groups

Philosophy of Ministry

My family drove to Disney World this summer. We spent over forty hours in the van together driving both ways, but when we were done we all agreed that it had been a great trip and we hoped to do it again. Of course the success of the trip was largely due to the planning which took place long before we left. Any vacation is destined for failure if details not planned out ahead of time, in a timely manner, and in the proper order.

The first planning step which must be considered in any vacation is the destination. If you plan to go nowhere, nowhere is exactly where you’ll end up. Once a destination has been determined, the route must be considered. It is likely that more than one route exist to most definitions. We spent a great deal of time looking at maps, evaluating routes before we determined the roads we would take. Once a definite route has been established, it is helpful to make note of landmarks along the way. Although these are not the destination, as you drive, your predetermined landmarks will provide stopping points along the way which affirm that you are headed in the right direction. For a long trip like ours, we knew that when we reached the landmarks, we could stop for the night and recharge before continuing our trip. Finally, based on the destination and route you should choose a vehicle. As you evaluate vehicles, you should look for a means of transportation which will best accommodate the people in your party for the distance you are traveling along the route you are taking. These three considerations will guide you to choosing the best possible vehicle for your trip.

The principles I have laid out above are very similar to the principles that can be followed in determining an appropriate method of forming the people of Calvary Church spiritually. Some may refer to this process as discipleship, others may call it Christian education. Whatever the name, it is the journey we are taking together as the people of God in his church.

THE DESTINATION

The role of the church is to carry out the mission of Christ in the world. This involves calling people into the kingdom and then equipping them to live as kingdom subjects in the community of the redeemed. Thus the goal of any educational or formative endeavors should be to produce Christ-followers who are committed to living the lifestyle Christ prescribed. This is the destination of our spiritual journey.[1] Of course, the lifestyle prescribed by Christ requires some degree of definition to assure that all involved are on the same page.

Mark told a familiar story which is contained in chapter 12 of his gospel. It is the account of a man who came to Jesus wondering what expectations God had for man. This teacher of the law asked Jesus which of God’s commandments were the most important. Jesus’ reply is very familiar. He said that the greatest commandment was to fully love God, and the second commandment was to love one’s neighbor. These two commands synthesized all the law according to Jesus.

Later in his ministry, Jesus added a third command to these two. As he ate with his disciples the night before his death, Jesus gave a “new” command to his followers. The command was simply to love one another. They likely interpreted his words to meant that they (the believers) were to love each other with the same kind of love that Jesus had loved them.

It seems reasonable that since Jesus gave these three commands, and because the Holy Spirit prompted the gospel authors to record them, that we should pay special attention to them as the clearest references to the type of lifestyle in which Jesus expects us to engage. These three commands will form the centerpiece of our “destination” for spiritual formation. We desire every member at Calvary to be a person who is growing in their love for God, for the world, and for each other.

THE ROUTE

Disciples are moved toward this destination though the development of three relationships; relationship with God, relationship with the church, and relationships to the world. Therefore, the extent to which a disciple has appropriately developed these relationships is the extent to which he or she has been formed spiritually.

A person’s relationship with God could be defined as having an understanding who God is and what he expects of men and women and possessing an enduring commitment to a life of obedience to God through faith in His Son.

A Biblical relationship to the church could be characterized by the following activities:

W Entrusting oneself to the community of faith for support, accountability, and prayer

W Willfully bearing the burdens of other believers

W Active participation in the growth and sin struggles of other believers.

A person’s relationship with the world should be demonstrated by a life which follows the pattern of Christ rather than the pattern of the world as well as a life which is constantly impacting one’s own circles of influence and beyond on Christ’s behalf and for the kingdom of God.

Emphasizing these three relationships provides a route by which to arrive at the determined destination. As members of Calvary learn to identify and evaluate these relationships in their lives they will be able to recognize whether or not they are journeying toward a lifestyle marked by discipleship. Therefore, the route by which Calvary Church will arrive at its stated destination for discipleship is by defining and emphasizing the three relationships that every believer is engaged in.

LANDMARKS

Appropriate landmarks provide a great evaluative opportunity of the progress of a discipleship program. Landmarks inform us that we are on the correct route, when we do not encounter an expected landmark, we are made aware that we have strayed from the pre-determined route. The landmarks of Calvary’s discipleship route are directly connected to Calvary’s desired route toward discipleship. For each relationship which Calvary emphasizes, a few landmarks will help to identify progress.

The landmarks are most easily identified as the definitive statements which clarify the emphasis of the three relationships. Table 1.1 demonstrates how each definitive statement can be used as a specific landmark. As disciples accomplish each of the landmarks, they are made aware that they are progressing along the intended route toward the determined destination.

Table 1.1

DISCIPLESHIP LANDMARKS FOR CALVARY CHURCH
*Definitive Statements about Discipleship*	*Specific Landmark Experiences*
Having an understanding who God is and what he expects of men and women	Profession of salvation accompanied by baptism
Possessing an enduring commitment to a life of obedience to God through faith in His Son.	Commitment to engagement in personal spiritual disciplines (likely includes enrollment in discipleship program)
Entrusting oneself to the community of faith for support, accountability, and prayer	Aligning oneself with an existing small group
Willfully bearing the burdens of other believers	Joining a ministry team
Active participation in the growth and sin struggles of other believers	Participating in an accountability relationship
A life which follows the pattern of Christ rather than the pattern of the world	Eliminating aspects of one’s life which do not advance the kingdom of heaven
A life which is constantly impacting one’s own circles of influence and beyond on Christ’s behalf and for the kingdom of God.	Assisting another person/persons in beginning and continuing the discipleship journey

THE VEHICLE

The vehicle is the means by which any group is transported along a given route to a pre-determined destination. In this journey of discipleship, the vehicle is the “program” by which people are discipled. There is no absolute standard for vehicles. Every vehicle will be different based on the makeup of the people needing to be discipled. At Calvary, the vehicle we will use will be a three different types of “spiritual activities”.

Spiritual Activity One: Celebratory Gatherings

Every Sunday the congregation of Calvary comes together to participate in a worship service. Using these times to intentionally disciple the congregants is an important step in emphasizing the three relationships to the people of Calvary. To accomplish this I would suggest the following guidelines for Sunday morning celebrations:

1. They should be celebratory. This is a time for the people of God to gather and celebrate what God has done in their lives. The mood of these meetings should reflect the joy and excitement one would expect at a party.

2. They should be participatory. People should not attend Sunday gatherings simply to observe. Numerous opportunities should exist for people to actively take part in the activities. (This likely means shorter sermons and less “special music” to allow time for more stories, testimonies, and interaction)

3. They should be meaningful. Every element that is weaved into the gathering should have significant meaning on its own and should contribute to the entire mosaic being created in that meeting.

4. They should be educational. Every person should leave the gathering believing that they have encountered something new about God and contemplating how that revelation should impact their life.

Spiritual Activity Two: Missional Group Relationships

The Sunday gathering at Calvary is important, but it is not sufficient on its own to disciple people toward the pre-determined destination. A second activity which promotes deeper and more interactive relationships provides the second element of Calvary’s discipleship vehicle. Missional Groups are groups of people who have covenanted together for a specific purpose. These groups may be in the form of Sunday School classes, small groups, Adult Bible Fellowships, or other formats. They all however are committed to the following values:

1. They are relational. Emphasizing the need to “love one another” is a crucial aspect of discipleship for Calvary. These groups take great pains to care for one another’s spiritual, emotional, and physical needs. Rather than relying on pastors or deacons to give care to their members, the people in these groups share one another’s lives and make certain that no one ever goes without.

2. They are applicational. Whether the group discusses the sermon from the previous week or another passage of Scripture, the emphasis in missional groups is on how to live the Word of God. Every group needs to make efforts to engage in precise goals for practical application of each study.

3. They are missional. Every group must exist for a purpose beyond itself. That may mean the adoption of a missionary or a city block. It may mean that the group participates in a given ministry of the church together. It may mean that they commit to regular street evangelism. It does mean that they covenant with one another that they will engage in activity that benefits the church and the kingdom together.

Spiritual Activity Three: Embracing Identity as Ambassador

Every follower of Christ is to live as an ambassador of the Gospel. This means that we are responsible to live out Christ’s message in the world. All members at Calvary are encouraged to live every aspect of their life, whether it be their vocation or their homelife or their social circles, as an ambassador. The life of an ambassador should include the following elements:

1. An ambassador should seek to live differently than residents of the world. Disciples at Calvary are constantly encouraged to evaluate their lives to see how they are living in the world but distinct from it. Christ offers hope in the form of a new life. People need to see that lived out in His disciples.

2. An ambassador should seek to demonstrate Christ’s compassion to the residents of the world. If the church is not involved in improving society, it has lost its bearings. Disciples of Christ should be the first to volunteer and give to agencies which seek to right social oppression. Feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and housing the destitute are extremely key elements in Christ’s message on earth.

3. An ambassador should seek to change people’s minds about God. Ultimately, those who are alienated from God should be brought into reconciliation with him by the way his disciples live. Individuals at Calvary should hold as a high value this ministry of reconciliation.

CONCLUSION

As the agency commissioned by God to form his people into the image of His Son, the church has a great task. Many “discipleship strategies” exist in the world of evangelicalism today. Several are very good, all have their downsides. In the past, Calvary has paralyzed itself by graciously acknowledging that there are many good discipleship strategies available. Unwilling to be characterized as exclusivist by selecting one, we have chosen to do none. It is not important what our strategy is so long as we have a strategy. To not have a plan for discipleship is to not plan to fulfill the great commission.

The “journey” I have laid out here is a starting point. It provides a possible goal with a plausible means for arriving there. Although the three-pronged vehicle I have laid out may not resonate with all, it is a starting point for now. While the destination and route do not need to be re-evaluated constantly (although occasional evaluation is always necessary), it is imperative that the vehicle be constantly evaluated and changed to fit the current makeup of the body of Calvary.

[1] It is important to point out that all metaphors and analogies break down at some point. One should be careful of carrying it out too far. Thus, we need to be careful when speaking of a destination for Christian education that we don’t conclude there is a point in time at which someone arrives as a fully formed disciple. The journey of discipleship is a continuous pilgrimage toward a goal that is ultimately realized in the resurrection.

Celebratory Gatherings

PART ONE - Philosophy

Worship could be a celebration of our unity through the diversity of our gifts.

Worship is a Godward response. It is not driven by desire, need, pragmatism, or relevance. It is the community of the redeemed approaching their Father through means prescribed by him and in a manner which glorifies him alone.

It is a response because it does not begin in hte human heart, but is initiated by His grace manifested to us.

It is communal because he has commanded us (as HIS redeemed nation of priests) to be characterized by our love for one another and because his priority is that the unity of his people would mirror the unity of the three-in-one.

It is prescribed by him because the clay does not choose its shape, its only concern is to be flexible in the hands of the potter.

I say this 'could be' because I am not willing to say it must be. I am not ready to say it should be. I am too hopeful to say it cannot be. As the church constantly evolves, its self-critique must keep pace with its progress, thus we should seek in all our practices to find that which 'could be', question whether it should be, and make effort so that it will be.

Celebration is a party. It is a ceremony to mark victory. It is done together, often characterized by the many celebrating the accomplishment(s) of the few or the one. We, the many, gather to celebrate God's (the one) accomplishment in bringing us together. We celebrate the mystery of celestial"

PART TWO - Pragmatics

S.D.Gaede writes in Belonging, "The Christian community derives its being from the fact that certain things are true. If they are not true, we have no reason for community."

We gather to celebrate those truths. We could list many of the truths we celebrate, for example: grace, redemption, creation, etc...

In our celebrations we can be formed to the image of Christ, because we leave as different people then when we arrived. We may be more convinced of those truths, we may be questioning the application of the truths, we may be anticipating our next gathering, we may feel more connected to the truths, we may have a greater sense of identification with the community because of the truths...

What should these celebrations look like? In no particular order, I would suggest:

they should be triumphant -- the greatest truth of all is that good has/will triumph over evil. the celebration at Zion (Matrix reference) gives us a feel for anticipatory triumph. our celebrations should awaken in us a moving sense of the transcendence of God.

they should be meaningful -- the truths which bind us together should be proclaimed in a relevant way so that our celebration is informed. some churches are so taken with the celebration itself that it has lost its meaning... this almost feels like idolatry.

they should be participatory -- we are all celebrating, we are all the community. i think of a pep rally for my MSU Spartans. even though we may all be sitting in rows, we will be extraordinarily participatory. why don't our celebrations look like pep rallys?

they should be reflective -- the truths we celebrate have meaning for us. we must constantly be weaving our story into the fabric of the communities truths. this requires honest reflection. we do a great disservice to ourselves when we celebrate without reflection.

Missional Group Relationships

Living in Harmony

If you could sum up the experience of living as a Christian in the world with one word, what would it be? What thoughts might you use to characterize the nature of a life which has been transformed by Jesus? What character traits, or trait, clearly identify someone who is intent on living out God’s mission in the world.

In 1 Peter 2, Peter (the guy who spent a lot of time hanging out with Jesus) encouraged his readers to live such good lives in the world that people who observed them would be positively impacted for the kingdom of God. As you read the book of 1 Peter, you’ll see that Peter immediately followed that encouragement by launching into a series of specific encouragements to different categories of people about a similar theme. One might conclude that Peter was giving instructions to his readers about what it would look like if they were living such good lives in the world. The word that most succinctly summarizes these teachings of Peter is, “submission”.

Peter identifies submission as a key to having godly relationships in a variety of settings. He calls for submission to governmental authority, he calls for slaves to submit to their rulers (even though he condemns slavery as unjust). This is a powerful argument for the idea that our submission to others is not prompted by their actions toward us or by whether or not they deserve it. We submit because of our love toward God and because we are responding to his love toward us.

According to Peter, this kind of submission also extends into the home, where we are expected to live in loving submission to one another.

Then, in verse eight of chapter three, Peter says, “Finally, all of you…” With the word, “finally” come two different thoughts. One is that of completion or ending. It is as if Peter has said all he needs to and this is his last thought. However, this passage comes only half way through the book, so it is probably more reasonable to find a different connotation for this word.

More likely, Peter is suggesting “totality”. What he is about to say is the summation (or sum total) of what he has been saying. What follows, Peter is saying, is the whole point of this submission thing.

“Finally”, Peter says, “all.” Up to this point, Peter has addressed several different groups. Husbands, wives, slaves, and citizens have all been addressed regarding submission. Now, says Peter, I have something for everyone. If the above categories didn’t apply to you, this does. If the above categories spoke to you, then you need to tack this on. This instruction is for “all.”

The instruction is for all of “you”. One of the unique features of the book of 1 Peter is the many different names it uses to address the followers of Christ. “Royal Nation”, “Holy Priesthood”, “Aliens and Strangers”, and “Chosen People” are all names used for the church in Peter’s book. The clearest defining name for Peter’s audience is found in the first chapter where Peter declares that he is writing to all who have been sprinkled by the blood of Jesus. “All of you” then means everyone whose life has been changed by Jesus’ work on the cross.

This is the group of people who have acknowledged that their life is broken. They’ve come to understand (through the prompting of the Spirit) that their way of life has led to emptiness and meaninglessness.

But the good news is that this group of people has accepted the fact that God became man in the person of Jesus and allowed himself to be killed so that the process of death and evil destroying us could be reversed. In this death and in the sprinkling of the God-man’s blood that Peter said a group of people were redeemed to become God’s holy nation.

Those of us who have turned our lives over to God, and have experienced the new life brought on by the sprinkling of his blood are the “all of you” that Peter is talking to.

And here’s what he says, “Live in harmony with one another.”

Most of us, when we think about harmony, think about music. Some might have other pictures in their mind. You might think about the harmony of nature, or maybe some who are excessively intellectual like myself might think of the beautiful harmony of a football team working together seamlessly.

When Peter used the world harmony (actually, he didn’t use “harmony”, that’s an English word. He used the word, “homophrone” which is a greek word which literally means “one mind”) he was speaking of a group of people who function as if they were controlled by one mind.

The English word harmony does a good job of describing this one-mindedness. So I think it can be useful in helping us to understand this teaching about life as a Christ-follower. I’m not a musician, but there are some things about harmony that even I can understand. Keeping in mind the idea of “one-mindedness”, I think an examination of the underlying concepts regarding harmony can teach us these valuable lessons about being the people of God.

While more principles undoubtedly exist, I would like to focus on three principles I can think of regarding “harmony”: Harmony requires more than one person, harmony requires people to be united in purpose, and harmony requires people to embrace one another’s uniqueness.

If living in harmony is “a group of people uniting in purpose through embracing their individual uniqueness” then there are at least three commitments we can make to contribute to harmony in our relationships. We need to be committed to full participation, to agreement, and to diversity.

If we are committed to harmony, we need to be committed to full participation. Let’s take a quick trip back to the beginning of time. God has just created the world and he’s just finished creating humans. He says that humans are to be his “image bearers”. We are to be his representatives to creation. Adam and Eve were to rule over the earth in the same way God would. They were to care for the garden as God would. They were to represent God in all they did.

Things went wrong.

Fast forward to the book of John. Here John recreates the creation account, writing, “In the beginning… was the Word.” What John is doing here is drawing a parallel between the first creation and the new creation. We are the “new creation.” Just as Adam and Eve were entrusted with the task of representing God to creation, we are entrusted with the task of representing God to the world.

Why does all this matter? Because we are saved (or made new) for a reason! We have been recreated by the blood of Jesus for the purpose of living in a way that will represent God to creation.

To enable us to do that, God saved us; not just as individuals, but he saved us into an organism. We often think of this organism as the “body of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 12:13 says that we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body. When we were made new, we were also made to be a part of something. Our best representation of God happens when we represent him together. That’s what Jesus meant in John 13 when he said, “By this all men will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.” Our relationship with one another is the foundation for our relationship with the world.

When everyone doesn’t participate in the body of Christ, we all lose. We don’t have the best possible harmony (or one-mindedness). When we don’t all choose to build into each other’s lives, we don’t give the best possible representation of God to the world. Harmony demands full participation.

If we are committed to harmony, we need to be committed to agreement. Being united in purpose requires agreement. Agreement requires humility. Living in agreement means things won’t always be done my way. Agreement requires me to recognize that my ideas are not always the best ideas. Paul wrote in Philippians 2:

“If you have any joy from being united with Christ…then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

Living in harmony requires agreement. Agreement requires humility. It means we put the good of others ahead of our own good.

Agreement also requires deference. If I am going to live in harmony with those around me, I need to be willing to give up my ownness for the sake of the oneness. A great picture we have been given to help us understand that kind of deference is the inter-relatedness of the trinity.

In John 17, Jesus prays and asks that all his actions be glorifying to the Father. He claims that while on earth he did everything the Father had asked Him to do. Earlier that night, Jesus said about the Spirit that the Spirit would speak only the words of Jesus and that the Spirit would work to bring glory to the Son. All this language is submission language. The Son submits his activity to the agenda of the Father for the glory of the Father. The Spirit submits his words to the thoughts of the Son for the glory of the Son. What is striking is that Jesus clearly made claims that he and the Father were one. They were/are equals. Also striking is that at Jesus’ baptism, we see a picture of the Spirit in an authoritative position, hovering over the event. He, the Spirit, is the overseer of Jesus’ ministry, he is the power behind Jesus ministry; yet he is submissive to Jesus’ will. The point is that within the trinity, the three are constantly deferring to one another for the good of the one unity.

Deference has nothing to do with power or position or value of a person. It is a choice we make to defer to the one-mindedness of the body of Christ.

This may be a good place to briefly point out that our harmony or one-mindedness is based on having the mind of Christ. We agree and we unite around His values and His mission. We unite to love others like he did and to meet the needs of the poor and oppressed like He did. We unify to proclaim the kingdom of God like he did. We have one mind to call others to discipleship like he did. Jesus’ mission and Jesus’ teachings are the center of our oneness.

If we are committed to harmony, we need to be committed to full participation, to agreement, and we need to be committed to diversity.

When we embrace our uniqueness and celebrate our diversity, we are appreciating the creativity of God and utilizing all the resources he has given us. We are all different, not only in gender, in age, in nationality, in color, in size, in preferences, etc… We are different in giftedness, and when all of us embrace each other’s unique giftedness, and when all of us choose to embrace and use our own gifts for the good of those round us, and when we all center ourselves and our gifts on the mind of Christ, then we have harmony!