The Gospel Archives - Page 2 of 6 - a church for the world

Eucharistic Mess

Jessica

Not Doing What the World Says I Should

I’m not sure how to handle
forgiveness. The culture tells me I’m entitled to my grudges, my animosity, my
lifelong hate against someone who wronged me. My friends tell me that I
shouldn’t allow that one person back into my life—much less forgive them. That
it’s idiotic for us to be close friends after the devastating breakup. That the
walls I build are justified.

Christ and his kingdom step in and call me quite clearly,
against the expectations of the world, to tell an alternate story. To forgive
seventy times seven, yes, but also to be perfect as my Father is perfect. And
yes, that’s great, and yes, I tell myself that I have forgiven and so fulfilled
the letter of the law but I still hold a seed of hatred in my heart. I beg off
forgiving completely, because they hurt me, they used me, whatever the
situation may be, I’m completely and undeniably justified. read more

A New Kinda Church Planting – Bronzeville, Chicago

I was in the great city of Chicago this last week. While I got the chance to see a large swath of the city, I spenta good share of my time in a region called Bronzeville (southside of the city). When the Great Migration brought African Americans from the South to jobs in the North early in the last century, many found their way to this area of Chicago. It was the greenhouse for greats like Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, Nat King Cole, Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Armstrong, Lou Rawls, Jesse Owens, Joe Louis and countless others. It is crazy how many cultural greats have emerged from this area. Today, at least in part, Bronzeville can be described by terms like high unemployment and poverty, urban violence, and population density.

Into to this setting, my good friend Ronnie Harris has been called to plant a church – a Kingdom outpost. Actually, it could really be said that he has been called back. See, Ronnie is from Bronzeville and has returned from living away to re-embed himself into this community. read more

What Kind of Christian Are You?

Today I have a friend, Geoff Reinhart guest blogging. He is an embedded church planter out of our church, New Community. The new church he is starting is called Chi Rho Community and is a missional church plant in North Idaho. Geoff describes himself as a wanna-be theologian and fly-fisherman. I like him! :)

Here is his post. At the end, let me know what you think. Enjoy. read more

Irresistible Holiness

One of the most befuddling (when I say befuddling, I mean I just can’t figure it out) things about Christianity for me is the juxtaposition between Jesus’ holy and our holy. When Jesus, the most holy and pure person ever, rubbed shoulders with the non-religious (“sinners”) they were amazingly attracted to him, but when most Christians come in contact with the non-religious (“sinners”) there are adverse reactions. You’ve seen the reactions toward Christians – they are haters, homophobes, judgmental, bound up – all reactions to Christians trying their level best to be…you got it, holy.

There is consistent and strong evidence that suggests that most people still find Jesus incredible attractive, at least intriguing. The evidence is even stronger that people don’t find Christians that way. Christ followers are to be holy yes, but there must be something different in the balance here. read more

What about the Spirit?

By Josh

In class we have been talking about and reading so many things about becoming a “missional church”. But I have noticed a lack of recognition and dependence on the power and guidence of the Holy Spirit in both the discussion and the books. Everyone has so many good ideas of ways to reform the church and make it into what God intended it to be…..which is not a bad thing in itself; the problem lies in the fact that Christians often take an American entrepreneurial approach in this reforming, and I can’t help but wonder where the guidance and submission to the will of the Spirit is in all of this.

It is important to remember that even Jesus, the incarnated Son of God, was led around by the Spirit much like a child is led around by his mother (Matthew 4:1, Mark 1:12). We must also remember that Paul was led and directed by the Spirit in all of his missionary ventures (Acts 13:4, Acts 20:22). In Romans it declares that the Sons of God are led by the Spirit (Romans 8:14). Should we not as Americans, who often have very little in depth vision into the will of God, not rely on the guidance of the Spirit much more than these men did?

Yet we see Christian after Christian pursuing missions or pursuing the ministry without ever have consulted the Spirit for guidance. Christians need to be constantly submitting themselves in prayer to seek to know what the will of God is as revealed to them through His Spirit. And until we figure this out, the majority of our church plants will continue to fail within the first few years.

Have We Really ‘Forgotten’ How to Do Church?

By Troy

As a Theology major at Whitworth, I’ve had the privilege of reading a wide variety of Christian literature. I’ve read through the Bible, numerous early Christian primary sources, biblical commentaries, etc. One consequence of my extensive reading is the tendency to become a literary critic. For me, the older the book, the more weight and authority it carries (this is a generalization). After reading Ignatius, Clement or Irenaeus, it’s easy to see how these works have survived the centuries. But I tend to read contemporary authors more critically. In other words, they haven’t stood the test of time yet.

In class, we are reading Forgotten Ways (2006) by Alan Hirsch. After slogging through the book, I was left disappointed by the wordiness and ‘fluff’ of Hirsch’s writing (and the excessive use of charts!). Although Hirsch does offer some valuable insight for contemporary church leaders, I found the book characteristic of ‘emergent church’ literature. Forgotten Ways is full of emergent buzz words such as missional, organic, fluidity, ‘authentic Jesus movement’ that appear to be cutting-edge. At least to me, these words are nebulous and vague. After more than two hundred pages, it’s still not clear to me what mDNA and the Apostolic Genius are! I felt the book was just another attempt to formulate a ‘successful’ 21^st century church.

Hirsch confidently asserts: “the Apostolic Genius lies dormant in you, me, and every local church that seeks to follow Jesus faithfully in any time. We have quite simply forgotten how to access and trigger it” (22). This seems to suggest thatwe possess the keys to unlocking the Apostolic Genius; and when/if we find it, the Church will flourish. There is little mention of the working of the Holy Spirit or God as Lord of the Church. And have we really forgotten how to do church? I agree that the church-growth and attractional-church models aren’t healthy, but the church has managed to survive two thousand years. There is no magic model to success, as “unlocking the Apostolic Genius” suggests.

I agree that mission is a critical aspect to the Church, but I also affirm the importance of true worship and diligent study of Scripture. Mission is not superior, but rather goes hand-in-hand with worship, theology, liturgy, and sacrament.

Like other contemporary ‘emergent’ authors, Hirsch is simply offering a new model for “doing church.” New
styles of doing church come and go like many other fads and trends. Well we have not ‘forgotten’ how to do church, Hirsch does offer excellent insights, provoking critiques, and challenging applications. But in my opinion, Hirsch is neither a diligent biblical exegete nor a careful historian. Hirsch is no Irenaeus, but we can add his opinion (with grace) to the Christian melting pot as we progress towards renewed expressions of the Church.