May 28, 2008
-
Naphtali News: Reflections on the Journey: "Things to Look for in a Church"
Fully aware of the danger of doing so (See What I Want in a Church), here are some ingredients I believe are vital or essential to a Church body, or what I might call my list of "Things to Look for in a Church." It is unapologetically skewed toward the evangelical tradition (if we don't have a firm foot in doctrine, then how can we truly stand?). It's certainly not a systematic theology of the Church by any means and I do acknowledge that some of the things I emphasize here are due to my own personality/gifting/wiring/values/biases as well as my own observations and experiences within the Body of Christ and those of people with whom I've spoken.I wrote most of this several months ago, but I have found my list dynamic, and over the past several weeks have been doing a much more thorough edit/re-do of it it than I had planned. But now, just as the time came for each of my children to be born (all were past their due date), I'm feeling this post is well overdue and there is an urgent need to get this baby out!
A few more thoughts/observations...
I've given the entire list in this post but then plan to do a separate post expounding on each of the items in the list over the next several weeks (including links to each of the separate posts from this post).
Please note that when I reference members of the Church I mean members of the Body of Christ.
The Biblical references I will give are but a starting point and far from being a thorough support for what I've written.
I also freely admit how I far short I fall of living out these things in my own life; consequently I view it as both impetus and a guide for prayer for the Church as a whole as well as myself.
And it's still all subject to change...
With all that in mind, here's my current list of "Things To Look for in a Church" (in a somewhat semi-systematic order). So you can take it all and put it in your own theological pipe and smoke it and please let me know what you think...
If anything, I hope it will get us all thinking more about what God desires His Bride to look like so we might be praying and striving toward that end.
All for the edification and growth of His Church and His Kingdom for His Glory,
~Karen(Whew! Now that I've gotten this far I'm feeling I can kick back and enjoy some fellowship, coffee, cake, the sun and the smell of lilacs with a good friend this afternoon!)
- A Soul-Oriented People.
- A Fellowshipping People.
- A Growing People.
- A Fruitful People.
- A Worshiping People.
- A people actively engaged in God-honoring worship.
- A sacramental people.
- Biblical Shepherd-Sheep Relationships.
- Shared shepherdship.
- Shepherds who guard, guide and feed the flock.
- Humble, sacrificial servant, teachable shepherd leadership.
- Shepherds who assist in the birthing of new shepherds.
- Shepherds who equip the flock.
- Shepherds who see the entire flock as precious and essential.
- A submissive, supportive, servant flock.
- A People Who Have a Sense of Perspective.
- A people who learn from the past and live in the present with an eye to the future.
- A people who possess a unified vision for the future.
- A Welcoming People.
- A wide and narrow place.
- A welcoming people who extend fellowship across the aisle of Christendom.
- A missional people who are sent out to proclaim Christ's Gospel and welcome new sheep into the fold.
- A Loving People.
RSS feed