Is Organic Healthier?
Okay, so I stole the title of this post from a site that promotes “organic” foods. But, it’s something to think about concerning the church also.
In his latest post, Lionel at “A View from the Woods” explains “Why I Chose the ‘Organic’ Way.” He gives us three reasons: 1) leadership, 2) learning, and 3) relationships. After explaining why each reason led him to a more “organic” expression of the church, he wraps up with this:
Leadership, learning and relationships amongst family should happen like a family. We are not an education institution, an entertaining institution, or a networking institution. I am not saying these things don’t occur when we meet, we are a family. We are a group of unlikely people, baptized into the Spirit to become one people. We have this thing that is unique to every other people group. It is called “fellowshipâ€, it is a metaphysical union that supersedes all earthly relationships. We are beginning everlasting life together and we are to express God’s life in one another. I do understand the benefits of organized church life. I understand having the dynamic pastor, the nice buildings, the nice worship team, the pristine teaching, the polished liturgy. I do and sometimes I miss it; however, I will never trade what we have today for anything else. I believe what we do is too important and means to much as we express ourselves to the world. What happens in the average church on Sunday is no different than what happens 5 days a week on my job, shallow relationships, a sense of togetherness with no real fellowship and so forth and so on. I want to know and be known by those who I will spend everlasting life with, the biggest reason is so that I may look more like Him.
I don’t think any believer would disagree with Lionel that leadership, learning, and relationships are important for the church. Like Lionel, I prefer more organic, and less structured expressions of the church. However, I think, we can find “organic” and healthy expressions of these things within more organized, institution-based churches.
But, I also think that as we pile on organization and structure and programs and etc., we tend to lose the organic (person-to-person) nature of the church. Instead of focusing on building each other up toward maturity in Christ, we tend to focus on building up our organization, protecting our programs, and defending our structures.
Meanwhile, the people – especially the little people who don’t matter as much in our organization, programs, and structures – tend to get pushed to the wayside. They become consumers and customers instead of partners and brothers and sisters.
But, of course, it doesn’t have to be like this. I know that many beautiful, healthy, Christ-honoring relationships are built and are grown in the midst of organized and structured churches and programs.
So, what is my point? Should we all (like Lionel) seek “organic” churches? Not necessarily.
Instead, we should all seek organic, natural – super-natural – relationships with other brothers and sisters, regardless of what structure or organization the church takes.
And, if the organization or structure gets in the way of those relationships? Well, just remember, the church is not the organization nor the structure. We must focus on the people. When the organization or the structure gets in the way, we must be willing to put it aside, or to step around it.
Putting People First
Often, on this blog, I write about the importance of understand the church as people – not the organization or structure or leadership, but people. Since the church is people, we should focus on people, putting people ahead of any of our plans or programs or anything else.
Last week, some friends of ours modeled this for us.
Dave and Bonnie had planned to take our daughter Miranda and another young lady to the zoo. As I told Dave, I was so appreciative that they wanted to spend time with these teenagers. It makes so much difference in someone’s life (especially a young person’s life) when they have close relationships with many mature followers of Christ.
In the days leading up to the trip to the zoo, our family started passing around some type of virus. My son, Jeremy, and my wife, Margaret, got sick. Then, on the morning of the zoo trip, Miranda got sick. (So far, I haven’t gotten sick yet.) (UPDATE: Yep. You guessed it. I got the virus a couple of days ago after a wrote this post.)
We called Dave and Bonnie that morning and told them that Miranda was sick and would not be able to go to the zoo with them.
We were very surprised when they called back a few minutes later. They had called Miranda’s friend, and they had all decided to postpone the zoo trip until Miranda felt better. Now, they plan to go to the zoo next week.
Remember, Dave and Bonnie and Miranda’s friend had already planned to go to the zoo. Everything was ready, and they still could have gone. But, they decided that Miranda was more important than their planned trip to the zoo.
So, they changed their plans for Miranda. They put people first.
It’s not always easy to put people first. Often, we put alot of time, energy, and perhaps money into making plans and into organizing projects and programs. But, for the church, people must always come first.
We must be willing to set aside any of our plans or organization or projects or programs if we determine that we need to serve people in a different way.
Discipleship by example
Two and a half years ago, I wrote a post called “Discipleship by example.” I was thinking about the importance of example earlier this week when I was speaking to a group of pastors. Most of the people there did not know me, and I will probably never see them again. Thus, there was no way that I could teach by example, so my teaching was limited. Example is extremely important.
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My good friend Glenn from “Bad Theology” (isn’t that a great blog name?) has written a great post called “Modeling a godly lifestyle“. He talks about a friend of his who has encouraged and admonished him toward godliness in the past. Then, Glenn recounts a recent encounter with his friend in which his friend encouraged him toward godliness (stimulated him to love and good deeds?) by his actions, without a word spoken. Consider Glenn’s conclusion:
I think that this type of “accountability” or encouragement [having an example to follow] is one of the most effective means of leading others closer to God. While it will often be beneficial and necessary for me to exhort or confront my friends and family concerning our relationships and walks with the Lord, I think a godly lifestyle on my part will always resonate louder and give ample opportunity for the Holy Spirit to personally encourage or convict those around me.
I think Glenn has hit on a basic truth of discipleship, but one that is rarely given the same prominence today that it is given in Scripture. That basic truth of discipleship is modeling godliness – living as an example to other believers in order to help them grow toward maturity in Jesus Christ.
While words and teaching are very important, we are never instructed by the authors of Scripture to simply follow a set of rules. Instead, we are given examples – sometimes even the authors themselves. Consider these passages:
If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. (John 13:14-15 ESV)
Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. (1 Corinthians 10:11 ESV)
Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. (Philippians 3:17 ESV)
What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me- practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4:9 ESV)
And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. (1 Thessalonians 1:6-7 ESV)
For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you. It was not because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate. (2 Thessalonians 3:7-9 ESV)
But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. (1 Timothy 1:16 ESV)
Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. (1 Timothy 4:12 ESV)
Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. (Hebrews 13:7 ESV)
Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God. (3 John 1:11 ESV)
…not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. (1 Peter 5:3 ESV)
Are you surprised at the number of examples? Are you surprised at the extent to when this idea is spread throughout the New Testament? Believe it or not, this is only a small sample of passages that teach us to both follow the example of godly people and to live our lives as an example to others.
Modelling and example, then, are a major aspect of biblical discipleship – of teaching people what it means to live as a child of God. Notice that throughout Scripture we are taught to follow those who actually live as a child of God, not those who speak about or teach about being a child of God.
Of course, in this idea of discipleship by example, there is a built in assumption: the people involved in the discipleship relationship must have access to one another’s lives. Furthermore, this access can’t be a surface level access. This type of discipleship requires sharing life together, both the good times and the bad times, both the high points and the low points, both the good examples and the bad examples.
I believe this last point is exactly why we have de-stressed discipleship by example and stressed discipleship by teaching only. In our individualistic and entertainment driven society, we are not willing to share our lives with other people. We want what we want, when we want it. We want to do things that are fun or pleasing to us. The idea of inviting someone else into our lives, to consider their needs, or yielding our will to theirs is completely foreign. In fact, in order to think about and live this type of discipleship by example it would take a new way of thinking – a renewed mind, in fact – a mind that is not conformed to the common ways of thinking. But, of course, this is exactly what Paul exhorts us toward – a renewed mind.
So, whose example are you following? Are you living your life as an example to others? Are you sharing your life with other people in such a way that you both see the example of others and you allow others to see your own example?
Why is every church not like this?
Frank at “Reimagining Church” has posted a letter from someone who recently spent a week with an organic church. His post is called “Visiting an Organic Church: A Firsthand Report.” At one point, the “visitor” says:
These brothers and sisters really do share their lives together. They’re family. Rather than just seeing each other once a week, they’re intimately involved in one another’s lives throughout the whole week. There wasn’t a day that I didn’t fellowship with some of the brothers and sisters (even outside of the two brothers I was staying with). And one of the coolest things is that they already feel like family to me … like I’ve known them for years and years. I felt so welcome…the Lord’s hospitality there was powerful. Everyone’s lives were a great blessing and encouragement to me. While I was there, the Lord impressed upon me that I would become like a child again with these people and re-learn Him in a new way.
All church are (and should be, I think) different, because the people involved are different. So, there will be differences in the way that they meet together. However, some things should be consistent. Things like what the person describes above.
We should be sharing our lives together daily. We should be caring for one another and serving our community together. We should look like and act like a family.
If our church (the brothers and sisters that God has placed in our lives) do not look like this, then something is wrong… which means that something needs to change. That something must begin with you and me.
Church Polity – From Experience
This is the final post my series on church polity. (See my posts “Introduction,” “Episcopal,” “Presbyterian,” “Congregational,” “Scriptural Evidence,” “The Problem,” and “Moving Forward.”) In this final post, I’m going to explain how we moved from congregational polity, to a desire to seek unity before making a decision as a church.
When we first started meeting together as a church (about six years ago), we were congregational. Whenever we needed to make a decision, we voted. Now, you must understand, even in those early days we made very few decisions as a church. We did not have staff or programs, and we did not own much property. But, occasionally, something came along that required us to make a decision as a group, so we voted on it, and whatever the majority wanted became the decision of the church.
We were already acquainted with one another for the most part. But, as we continued to meet together, and as many of us began to focus on community and fellowship, we truly began to get to know one another, to care about one another, to give to and to serve and to help one another.
Soon, we found that we were not happy when our vote meant that others were “losing.” The majority won… that means that some of our brothers and sisters in Christ “lost.” These are people that we would often sacrifice ourselves for. But, when it came to making decisions, we were still focused on our own interests.
I remember one time in particular when we were trying to decide where to meet. Our landlords had doubled our rent, and we did not want to spend that much money on a meeting place. God was using our money for much more important things than a place to meet. So, we found two possible locations. (You should know that everyone in the church said that they would be happy with either location.) Some people preferred one location, and some people preferred the other location. We voted. Of course, one “side” won and the other “side” lost. A brother from the “winning” side approached me almost in tears. He said (and I’m paraphrasing) that he realized that he had voted in a way that showed he was looking out for his own interests instead of the interests of others – even his brothers and sisters.
One of my fellow elders at the time was Maël from “The Adventures of Maël & Cindy.” He recently posted a quote that captures what we were learning (this is from his post “Majority rule in the church? – A. H. Strong“):
Should not the majority rule in a Baptist church? No, not a bare majority, when there are opposing convictions on the part of a large minority. What should rule is the mind of the Spirit. What indicates his mind is the gradual unification of conviction and opinion on the part of the whole body in support of some definite plan, so that the whole church moves together.
I think Strong has it right here. Disagreement within the church does not call for “majority rule,” it calls for waiting on God to bring unity.
Guess what? That’s hard to do. Our society and culture is all about making decisions and then acting on those decisions. God does not always work on our time table. (In fact, I’ve found that he often doesn’t.)
While I can’t go into specifics, there have been times when the church was faced with two options. Some people favored Option A, and some people favored Option B. So we prayed and waited. We talked about it more, and there was still disunity.
Sometimes, through our prayer and waiting, God has moved in a way that made either Option A or Option B obviously the right choice to everyone.
Other times, God has removed either Option A or Option B.
Still other times, God has presented Option C at a later date.
But, if we had not waited… if we had followed either Option A or Option B (based on majority rule or the decision of leaders), many times we would have missed what God had planned.
It’s hard to wait for unity. It’s against our human nature – especially as Americans. But I can’t think of another way for the church to walk together in unity.
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Church Polity Series
Church Polity – Moving Forward
This is the seventh post my series on church polity. (See my posts “Introduction,” “Episcopal,” “Presbyterian,” and “Congregational” for introductions to the three major types of church polity. Then, in my post, “Scriptural Evidence,” I said that there was no direct scriptural evidence explaining how the church made decisions, and in my post “The Problem,” I suggest that the main problem is limited exegesis and ignoring some data when it comes to decision making in the NT.) In this post, I’m going to suggest a way to move forward.
First, I want to point out that as a follower of Jesus Christ, I should be able to live, fellowship, and work a church who follows either of the three major types of church polity. Why? Because I (and you) should be willing to submit to others (including those who think they should have authority because of their position and including those who vote with a majority for their own decision).
There is one caveat though. If God is calling someone in a certain direction, and the church (either leader(s) or majority) decide against it, the individual must follow God. Certainly, the person should carefully consider the desires of the group. There may be wisdom in their decision. However, there are times when leader(s) or majority can choose against the will of God for an individual.
As an example, I know a few people (2 couples, actually) who desired to serve in their neighborhood. They asked their church leaders for support (prayer, encouragement, etc.). The leaders refused. The two couples spent some time deciding if they still thought this was God’s desire for them. They decided it was, so they continued, asking others for support.
However, there is another way (besides episcopal, presbyterian, or congregational polity) that churches can make decisions. As far as I can tell, this way takes into account all of the scriptural information.
A church can choose to wait until they all agree before making a decision. When there is disagreement, they can continue to pray, discuss, listen, and wait until they can all agree on the decision.
Usually, this option is not considered because it is impractical for most churches.
But, as far as I can tell, it allows the mature brothers and sisters (leaders) to take part in the decision making process, even speaking (as James did in Acts 15) and offering their “judgment.” It also takes into account the necessity – yes, necessity – of the church seeking the will of God together and seeking unity and agreement. It allows any within the church to submit to others, perhaps even choosing to “champion” the opinion of another brother or sister (even if their opinion would be different).
Finally, and most importantly, it helps the church think seriously about which decisions are really important and which decisions are not important. From what I can tell, most decisions that churches make (and argue about, and split over, and get hurt feelings because of) are decisions that don’t actually have to be made, or decisions in which either option would be equally important (or unimportant) in kingdom priorities.
I hope you (my readers) choose to interact with this option. It is not easy, and it is often impractical (in an organizational sense). What do you think? Why would it not work? Why would it work?
(In the final post of this series, I’m going to share a few experiences of waiting for unity and agreement before making a decision.)
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Church Polity Series
A Friend is Waiting
My friend Jason at “Second and Content” is planning to move to South Africa next spring. He hopes to stay there for a year working with orphans. Recently, he wrote a post called “Sitting, Waiting, Listening (Genesis 39-45 Redux).”
In the post, Jason talks about (very honestly and openly) how worried he’s been about everything working out for him to go to South Africa. He also talks about how the church has helped him with this issue. He says:
Hearing this conversation go on between Gary, Alan, and Rodney was like little Mark came out of nowhere and slapped me in the face and said, PAY ATTENTION! I was so consumed with thoughts I couldn’t bring myself to formulate coherent sentences for the discussion. I had had a discussion with Alan the week before because I was geting a little anxious waiting on God to do something and trying to discern to what degree do I work towards this goal without me messing it up. I’ll admit, I was pretty distraught, that happens to me occasionally, I get so worked up about something that thats the only thing I can think about, and I worry. Working through this Joseph discussion, I was once again refocused back on the goal: go to Africa. God showed me that, no matter whether I tried to make it happen, it would not happen if He didn’t make it happen. Just go on about life, don’t complain or question, just work towards the goal and it will work out the way that God has planned. I’ll keep preparing until God stops me. While at the same time, sitting, waiting patiently for the time to go, and listening for that word to stop or continue going.
Jason writes more, so you should read his post. But its great to see how God is using several of us to encourage Jason during this time of planning and waiting.
Stand firm and do good – Polycarp
Here’s a challenging passage from Polycarp written to the church in Philippi sometime in the early second century:
Stand fast, therefore, in these things, and follow the example of the Lord, being firm and unchangeable in the faith, loving the brotherhood, and being attached to one another, joined together in the truth, exhibiting the meekness of the Lord in your intercourse with one another, and despising no one. When you can do good, defer it not, because “alms delivers from death.” Be all of you subject one to another, having your conduct blameless among the Gentiles,” that you may both receive praise for your good works, and the Lord may not be blasphemed through you. But woe to him by whom the name of the Lord is blasphemed! Teach, therefore, sobriety to all, and manifest it also in your own conduct. (Polycarp to the Philippians 10.1-3)
I think this would be good for all believers and churches to ponder.
Imagine all the people
Yes, today would have been John Lennon’s 70th birthday. But, this post has nothing to do with John Lennon (except the last two sentences).
Instead, this post is about Elroy from “Change Room” and his post “Imagine.” Elroy has been posting these short statements on Facebook. They all begin with “Imagine a community…” I’m glad he collected them all in one post. This is what Elroy says about his post:
I’ve been thinking lately about the values that were typical of the New Testament church. To me it’s much more exciting and important to champion these values than to highlight the mistakes of the modern-day church. Unfortunately when you emphasize biblical values, unbiblical values get mentioned by default.
Here are a few of my favorites:
Imagine a community where everybody thinks more highly of the next guy than of himself. Think church.
Imagine a community to whom relationships are more valuable than possessions. Think church.
Imagine a community where friends become as close and often closer than your natural family. Think church.
Imagine a community to whom sharing and giving is the new normal. Think church.
Imagine a community who defines success by the maturity of the group and not by the giftedness of individuals. Think church.
There are more in Elroy’s post. Go read them.
As an aside, Elroy is from South Africa, and a good friend of mine just announced that he is planning to move to South Africa (for a year or so) next Spring.
Learning from One Another
Three years ago, I wrote a post called “Learning from One Another.” The purpose was to encourage believers to listen to and learn from one another – specifically to listen to and learn from those of different denominations, practices, and beliefs. I’d love to hear how my current readers would respond.
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This is going to be a different kind of post than I usually publish. I believe that followers of Jesus Christ should be humble enough to learn from other followers of Jesus Christ, even if those others are “different”, with “different” beliefs and “different” practices.
I believe that Baptists should learn from Presbyterians who should learn from Methodists who should learn from Disciples of Christ who should learn from Anglicans who should learn from Nondenominationals, etc. I believe that Conservatives should learn from Liberals who should learn from Moderates, etc. I believe that Moderns should learn from Postmoderns who should learn from Premoderns who should learn from Post-postmoderns, etc. We should learn from those who are different from us but who are, nonetheless, our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Therefore, I am going to ask you what you have learned from others. Here are the rules:
1. List only positive things that you have learned from other believers.
2. List only things you have learned from followers of Christ who are different from you (i.e. different denomination, philosophical worldview, hermeneutic, etc.).
3. List only positive things that you have learned (Yes, I meant to repeat this!).
Have you learned something from brothers and sisters in Christ who are different than you? Please share those with us.
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This is how I responded to my own post:
From my more reformed brothers and sisters, I’ve learned more about trusting God’s providence and protection.
From my more emerging/emergent brothers and sisters, I’ve learned that I can hold to my convictions and still listen to others and learn from their perspectives.
From my more missional brothers and sisters, I’ve learned that mission should happen every day.
From my more liberal brothers and sisters, I’ve learned that the gospel can be proclaimed with hands and feet and food and water.
From my more covenental brothers and sisters, I’ve learned that God keeps his promises.
From my more charsimatic brothers and sisters, I’ve learned to wait for the Holy Spirit.
From my more catholic brothers and sisters, I’ve learned that their is one church.