When I was a child we used to interlock our fingers and press our palms together and say a little rhyme. "This is the church. This is the steeple." (lift index fingers) "Open the doors and see all the people." (open hands and wiggle fingers)
The rhyme tells us the church building is the church, which holds all the people inside. In some ways that is true. The church does hold all the people, but not physically so. The church holds all people in love and prayer. We pray for the entire world, and everyone within, hoping for that day when every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. (See Philippians 2:5-11)
There is a falsehood in the Sunday School rhyme. The building which contains a sanctuary, fellowship hall, offices and classrooms, is not the church. The people are the church. The early church had no buildings with steeples or sanctuaries. They went to synagogue if they were Jews or gentile converts to Judaism. They went to the temple in Jerusalem if they were near enough. When the persecution of the church began, and when Jerusalem's temple was destroyed in 70 AD, there was no church building. Instead the church met in homes and, in some cases, out in the open air. (See Acts 16:13)
House churches is what we call it now, but in the early days of the church the meeting place had little to do with the identity of the church. The church was a movement, not a location. The church is the people of Jesus Christ. Always has been and always will be.
The mission of the church is a movement to change the world with the love and power of God through the gospel of Jesus Christ. The mission of the church is "to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world." If our end goal is to transform the world, it begs the question, "Who needs transformation?"
Let's just agree that we all do. If you understand the human condition, we are all works in progress. Some of us a progressing rather nicely toward a fuller expression of the best in humanity. Some of us are stuck. Some of us are falling backward. We all are on the journey of life.
You may contend that you like you the way you are. You may feel you don't need transformation. It's good to like yourself. It's also good to have a vision for your future which generally means change from your present condition toward that vision. Of course you can have no vision and just survive, just exist. Some have the idea that this is the secret to happiness, just being.
Experience tells us humans have a longing to connect to something more than themselves, something bigger. It brings a sense of purpose and meaning, that bigger thing. Charles Taylor wrote extensively on the concept of the self, how we humans evaluate ourselves in distinction from all else. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sources_of_the_Self)
One of the concepts Taylor put forward was that we each set a horizon in our own minds as to where we want to go. For the adolescent that horizon might simply be to hang out with friends. Or it might be to gain first chair in the band in their section. What we find to be true is that once a person reaches that hoped for horizon, they soon realize there has to be something more. "I'm not satisfied here," they think. So they set their hearts on a new horizon. We humans are wired this way.
Some may early on give up on any horizon beyond surviving this day, then the next. People who live in poverty often do not make plans beyond the moment. But I'll assume that even the poor have dreams that, if they had the means, they would pursue. The heart longs to create futures. We are made in God's image. We are co-creators with God.
Transformation happens through God's activity in our lives. As we walk through this world, we have an inner conversation going on. That inner conversation can be partnered with a life giving and hopeful worldview in which God is with you. That inner conversation can be completely alone with all of our aspirations, doubts and fears. Some even create imaginary friends out of need for relationship. We are made in God's image. We are made for relationship. As the good Lord said when He looked upon a single man in the Garden of Eden, “It is not good that the man should be alone." (Genesis 2:18a)
We need human interaction. As we practice loving one another as Christ loved us, we grow closer to God. The church that meets in a home is a place to meet God and to grow in faith, hope and love. Any disciple making process will have a strong small group ministry. Small group is essential for creating an environment for mutual encouragement and support as we work toward a shared horizon. That horizon is perfection in loving God through spiritual disciplines and perfection in loving people through ministry.
Take a look at the end of Paul's letter to the Romans. Romans 16:1-15 asks the Roman church to greet persons on Paul's behalf. We get insights into what close Christian fellowships are like. Paul gives thanks to God for his fellow disciples. They stick their necks out for him. How close and how proud Paul feels about Epaenetus! He was with her, helping her to accept Jesus as her Lord. Paul may have baptized her. Christians who work closely together gain a history together. Mary suffered persecution together with Paul. Christians in a small group fellowship are in the trenches together in spiritual warfare. As you journey together in changing the world, the world will fight back. Christians will likely suffer, but they do so with dignity in the knowledge that their suffering for the gospel leads to eternal rewards, which no one can take from us.We learn from Paul that his fellow disciples work hard together for the gospel. We can sense the love Paul feels for these people he names.
God will build similar intimate relationships between you and others as you work together toward maturity in Christ. The small group is by and large the most effective method for disciple-making. For in the small group we find support and encouragement to stay devoted to holy habits of prayer, study, worship and service. Through small group we are challenged as we reflect on the thoughts and experiences of others in our group. They lead us into transformation and toward a greater unity in Christ. Small group is a place to practice love. We get opportunities to give love as well as receive love. We have opportunities to stick our necks out for others in the group. We have opportunities to work together in some service to others. We have the opportunity to prove our love and faithfulness in all manner of ways in a small group.
The rewards for building a small group around a shared vision of growing in loving God and others toward a perfect expression of love cannot be understated. Small group is the church. Small group is the laboratory where love is researched and tested, experienced and celebrated. Love is shared in small group and we grow in love through loving others and by being loved.
Who needs transformation? When it comes to the perfect love of God, who doesn't?
No comments:
Post a Comment