It is our turn to step up and take responsibility for who the church is going to be for a new generation. It is our turn to redefine and reshape and dream it all up again. It is our turn to rediscover the beautiful, dangerous, compelling idea that a group of people, surrendered to God and to each other, really can change the world.
Rob Bell - Velvet Elvis pg 164
Ok so what would the church look like if we rethought how we do church?
What would change?
What would stay the same?
If the church was stripped back to a blank canvas how would we paint it?
What does blank canvas look like?
What are the essential elements of the church?
Rick Warren (author of Purpose Driven Church) would say there were:
- Evangelism
- Worship
- Fellowship
- Discipleship
- Ministry
Other authors have varying words they use to articulate what the basic elements are that make up the 'canvas', what gets painted on the canvas is unique to each church community.
An easy trap to fall into is to try and copy another's painting, rather than finding the blank canvas that we can paint a unique masterpiece on.
If it is our responsibility to redefine what the church is going to be in this generation, then this is a very serious task.
What seems to be the painting of the canvas soo hard is that everybodies ideas for how to paint the canvas is different, here are some examples...
Experience vs. Knowledge - I have seen both extremes of this in Timaru, I see people who are only focused on experiencing God and something is wrong with them or the service if they don't get 'slain in the spirit' EVERY week and the other extreme that is people who are so closed off to any kind of move of the holy spirit because they are soo focused on the tradition and unchanging routine. Personally I have come from the tradition side but through encouragement from friends and a lack of fufillment with the tradition I have learnt to open myself up to what the spirit is doing.
Celebration vs. Reverence - After a recent children's service that was held at my church I met with a couple for lunch, we discussed the service and how we found it. This service had been very celebratory, there was a lot of energy and opportunities for the congregation to sing what they thought of God. Personally I found it to be great but the couple I talked to had a different view, they felt that there was no reverence in the service, no coming before God with a sense of awe and respect.
Literal vs. Paraphrase - I know people who take the scriptures literally word for word, if the bible says something then that is exactly what is meant. Whereas others interpret the bible by looking at what the author was trying to say, looking for the message behind the words. Personally I believe that the meaning behind the words is more important than what words are used, but I know I catch myself being very literal at times. This can show through with what translations are seen as the 'preferred' translation. Some people believe that the King James Bible is the only translation that should be read from the pulpit whereas others use paraphrases like the Message bible as the basis for their teaching.
The above are only three examples of things that make each church different, there are many different forms that the church can take, it is looking at what form it could take to make a difference in New Zealand.
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