We had some friends for dinner last night. We talked of deep and sometimes hard things the way friends do. Eventually, they asked my vision of 21st century congregations . Something like this blurted out, and it surprised me. It was a helpful and encouraging process. I expressed it in three parts:
- Worship: we would have worship that is an act of the body communing with God. It would not be meant to attract anyone. This is not the place to enter the body,
but the place where the body would be simply expressing its love and desire for God. It would use all in its historical experience for this expression. And among other results of worship, the body would be challenged, encouraged, inspired and empowered to be propelled to continue its worship as witnesses in the world.
- Discipleship: Transformed lives through the power of the Holy Spirit would be the purpose of the church. The bar would be set high - to take up our crosses and follow Jesus. Membership would carry a high level of commitment to living out faith in the context of the community. This is particularly true as the community continues to be more distinguishable from the culture and a greater servant in the culture.
- Missional: we would simply seek to love and serve the world the way Jesus did. We would intentionally be in the world loving our neighbors with the love of Christ that richly dwells within us. We would expect that our non-Christendom culture would not enter the community through an attraction to our worship, but through a partnership in our mission. The world, seeking meaning, would desire to participate in our service (not only to receive it, but also to participate in it). Relationships would be built, motivations shared, and people love and cared for. Worship would be the result of relationship, not the means to it.
I know I can articulate these better, but this is a start on three distinctives I see in a vision where the church must go in its next iteration.
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