SOS - A call for the Church to recover
(This painting is by Tadros Ibrahim, who is a member of our Aunties and Uncle’s Group, our Writer’s Group and Bible Study. He is a well-known artist, and this painting is entitled – SOS! He has his own unique story to explain why he painted this; however, the title may also be applied to the local church – SOS Lord! We need intervention!).
Last week I explained what I believe to be the two main values of a Christian community (that is a church). In summary, a true church is both authentic and an alternative community. Andrew Root, in his book, The Pastor in a Secular Age, explains that historically, all of life is sacred; there is no artificial divide between the sacred and secular, which is a dichotomy occurring since the Enlightenment. However, this divide has a profound impact. He writes, “we live in a time - call it a secular age – when society has devalued the pastor and yet we nevertheless yearn for the sacred.” As a result there is a sense for many believers that faith is an experience of living in an “in-between space (maybe liminal), where indifference, disengagement, and an overwhelming sense of “being buffered” is real. This can relate to all aspects of life, but more pertinently to our worship and commitment to Christ.
Twenty years ago, however, we were still challenged with this waning sense of identity. Responding to this, The Gospel, and Our Culture Series, (GOCS), tried to define what an alive, missional, engaged, and decidedly intentional church should look like. Gathering pre-eminent thought leaders, they came up with the following 8 Patterns. (Lois Y Barrett as editor for ed. Treasure in Clay Jars: Patterns in Missional Faithfulness), which I have summarized into (hopefully) understandable language.
1. Pattern 1. The Church’s Identity. The congregation discovers together who they are under God and what God is calling them to be through the combined gifts of the community.
2. Pattern 2. Biblical Formation and Discipleship. All members are involved in learning what it means to be disciples of Jesus, and biblical formation becomes a priority.
3. Pattern 3. Taking Risks as a Contrast Community. The church understands itself as different from the world because of its participation in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. It is raising questions, often threatening ones, about the church’s cultural captivity, and it is grappling with the ethical and structural implications of its mission and vocation.
4. Pattern 4. Practices that demonstrate who God is. The practices of the church embody mutual care, reconciliation, loving accountability, and hospitality. The church becomes known by how Christians behave toward one another.
5. Pattern 5. Worship as Public Witness. Worship is the central act by which the community celebrates with joy and thanksgiving, both God’s presence and God’s promised future. The community’s vital public witness flows out of its worship.
6. Pattern 6. Dependence on the Holy Spirit. The missional community confesses its dependence upon the Holy Spirit, shown in its practices of corporate prayer and expectation of her agency.
7. Pattern 7. Understanding God’s overall and ongoing power in the world. The missional church understands its calling as witness to the gospel of the inbreaking reign of God, and strives to be an instrument, agent, and sign of that reign through social justice and societal transformation.
8. Pattern 8. Reliance on the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit empowers all within the community, despite the diversity of functional roles and titles, the ability to undertake these patterns in community.
These are indeed lofty sentiments; however, it is good for us to consider an alternative path to forge ahead with, in these confusing and sometimes numbing times.
Your comments are welcome.
Blessings
Gayle