How might one go about describing the difference between an institutionally minded body of Christ followers and a Kingdom oriented fellowship? Anything I write from here on out out will be surface and painting with broad strokes.
1. First, there is a difference between operation from an allegiance to the witness of Christ in history and the church as it has become. The Gopsel is God among us not Christianity.
2. Institutional loyalty is about preservation of power, status, and influence whereas Kingdom disciples are passionate about embodied truth, confession, authenticity, reconciliation and justice. This is what I mean by "mission" or "maintenance." Are our churches doing mere maintenance (changing Sunday morning around, rearranging furntiure on the Titanic) or are our churches living missionally--equipping the saints to be ministers in the numerous settings they'll find themselves in.
3. Institutional loyalty is usually the most dangerous place to be--the darkness has done its best work in institutions (Racism, oppressive governments, etc.). Bodies of people committed to the in-breaking Kingdom are not afraid to speak truth to the powers that be.
John York and Rubel Shelly has been preaching on this topic this summer at Woodmont Hills Family of God in Nashville, TN (www.woodmont.org). See the resources section to listen to the sermons. This is good for those who want to see missional church theology in a Church of Christ context. At least, what it might look like on paper or sound like in a preaching/teaching moment.
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4 comments:
I enjoyed our class together this summer. And I will continue to enjoy this blog, I'm sure.
Peace brother. If you find me a job just let me know. ha
Ken,
You've given me a lot to chew on. Thanks brother. Keep it coming.
I am going to give some of your stuff some more thought--hmmm.
Ken,
You've given me a lot to chew on. Thanks brother. Keep it coming.
I am going to give some of your stuff some more thought--hmmm.
I am not sure if I am on the right track with what you are saying here, but I am gonna take a shot at it.If I understand properly what you mean by "institutional loyalty", then I have to say that it is one of my biggest reasons for not leaning towards a particular church or denomination.I share your view that thease institutions seek mainly to prove that their views are the only correct views, therefore provong that they are superior in some way.With superiority comes power,fame,and fortune.Kinda reminds me of the pharisees!If they would only spend more time trying to prove the superiority of God's view, they would find themselves much closer to God.You can't build faith around your life, you have to build your life around faith.
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