Words that make me go "ouch"

Last weekend I presented 4 words that are critical for us to understand as the world understands.

Trust
Truth
Tolerance
Brokenness

All of these words are connected. For instance, how can I trust you if I don't believe you are telling me the truth? How can I know you will tolerate me or my lifestyle if I tell you the truth about myself? Can I trust you with the truth about me? How can you possibly understand my brokenness if you don't know me? Can I trust you with my hurt and believe you will hear my heart? Are you willing to love me rather than judge me?

All of these words and questions are critical for us to wrestle through both individually and together. How can we ever hope to reach any level of healthy, missional community unless we're also allowing some uncomfortable self examination?

Here's another quote that keeps rattling around in my brain:

From Pate and Wilkes, "Evangelism Where You Live"

"When a local fellowship of Christ-followers turns inward to perpetuate programs rather than serve in the name of Jesus, it has lost its raison d'etre (reason for being) and is no longer of use for the reason Christ created it. (and a couple of sentences later) Just as the human persona is, it also does, and, so, the church is the "body of Christ," but it also does what Christ has co-missioned with it to accomplish as His Presence in the community."

Have we become so blind? Has our "reason for being" been co-opted by self-service, self-preservation and a selfish permission to both be in and of the world so that we no longer see the church as the body of Christ fulfilling the Great Commandment and the Great Commission?

So what does it look like if we are seeking to be "His Presence" in our community? Is it a change of heart or attitude? Will it require us to significantly alter the way we live life? Will we need to eschew the epidemic of busyness in order to truly enter into the lives of others?

I don't know about you, but this is beginning to get messy. Cool.

Let me have it.

Arden

Leaving a Comment

For those of you who wanted to comment on this blog but were unable, I've finally figured out that I had inadvertently restricted comments. Those restrictions have been lifted, so comment away. Sorry if it was frustrating.

Also, what kind of comments should you leave?

I would like dialogue. For instance, when I talk about the church, especially when I posted the list of what we would like the church to "be" I want to know if that connects with you in any way or if you thought the list needed clarification, additions, subtractions or whatever.

I'm going to be blogging with an open-ended pathway. Let's walk and talk about stuff.

The church - "Are we there yet?"

We had our SLT (Spiritual Life Team) meeting last night and I asked these great people what they wanted our church to look and feel like. This is just the first go around but I thought you'd like to see the list. We'll be adding and clarifying as we progress.

• Worship alive and relevant
• An open and inviting environment
  
• Welcoming (sincere and friendly)
  
• Youth are welcome and are in a safe place - seeking a healthy environment
• The pastor is real (authentic) preaching the word in a relevant way
• Growth in maturity as Christians
• Lives are changing
• A place where Christians are caring for each other and those coming in and those around us in the world
  
• Emotionally and spiritually healthy
• People surrendering their lives to Christ and his Lordship

A complete list? Not yet. What do you want the church to look, feel, taste, smell, sound like? Give me your thoughts, clarifications and additions.

Peace,
Arden

Hey there. I've been wanting to start a blog to help in the dialogue of what it means to live life to the fullest (John 10:10) and to continue the conversation started this past weekend at Nelson Covenant Church. Apparently my conversation with you struck a chord - so many have talked to me about the message and their own wrestling with what it means to be church - to live in community, to seek to be a disciple or, as we say in the "church" to offer "discipleship".

I don't know all the answers. But I want to talk to you about this. So here goes;

I want you to give me your thoughts about church and community and discipleship. I'm reading a book called "Evangelism Where You Live" by Stephen Pate and Gene Wilkes. It's a lousy title for a book (didn't exactly grab my attention) but it is probably the best book about doing life in the church that I've read in a long time. Here is a sample quote from the book.

"Ron Lewis, our mentor and longtime church consultant, observed, "Process precedes product. What you are doing, and how you are doing it, determines the results." Church outreach programs, age-grouped Bible studies, church-wide evangelistic emphases and events have produced the current results. If churches desire a different end result, the process must change!
Some churches plateau or decline simply because they have become comfortable. They like things the way they are. They have forgotten that the Christian church is not simply to be a safe house for members, where we are to withdraw, keeping any possibility of evil and danger away at all cost. As William Shedd, the nineteenth-century theologian, noted, "A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for." A study of Paul's ministry illustrates a life on mission is anything other than channel surfing from a recliner. Ron Martoia quipped, "If the church isn't living on the edge, it's taking up too much space!"" (page 8)

My book is about half underlined. I'll share many more quotes in future blogs. So here are some questions for us to ask:

• Are we taking up too much space?

• How close to the edge are we?

• Have we valued comfort and safety (for ourselves, our kids, our families) rather than mission and passion, and responsibility to fulfill the great commandment and great commission?

If you want to hear the sermon again (Gee, that sounds like fun, Arden!) you can connect here to our website (did you know we had one?) and look for my sermon titled "Community".

www.ecov.org

I want to hear your comments.

Peace,
Arden