What Builds a Church?
I'm not saying these words are bad. However, I don't see the following words listed in Scripture as virtues or targets the church should aim for:
Creative
Fresh
New
Relevant
Fun
Exciting
Innovative
Entertaining
Casual
Funny
Edgy
Accepting
Techno-savvy
Big
Perhaps one of these words describes a church...I don't believe that is necessarily wrong. But if a pastor (or any advocate for that church) then tells others that a particular adjective (not found in Scripture) is the key to the effectiveness of their church, are they by nature denying that it is Christ who builds His church. (And if conversely, a method or key adjective built the church, does that mean it must not be Christ's?)
Creative
Fresh
New
Relevant
Fun
Exciting
Innovative
Entertaining
Casual
Funny
Edgy
Accepting
Techno-savvy
Big
Perhaps one of these words describes a church...I don't believe that is necessarily wrong. But if a pastor (or any advocate for that church) then tells others that a particular adjective (not found in Scripture) is the key to the effectiveness of their church, are they by nature denying that it is Christ who builds His church. (And if conversely, a method or key adjective built the church, does that mean it must not be Christ's?)
posted by danny2 @ 9:25 PM
3 Comments:
At 11:13 AM,
DL said…
"But if a pastor (or any advocate for that church) then tells others that a particular adjective (not found in Scripture) is the key to the effectiveness of their church, are they by nature denying that it is Christ who builds His church."
I don't think they do any more than the "Prayer of Jabez." That is a verse of Scripture that I believe is ripped out of context, and made to explain "what happens when ordinary Christians decide to reach for an extraordinary life" through "only one sentence with four parts - tucked away in the Bible." Jonah prayed for death, but no one writes books advocating that life-changing prayer. I think there is freedom to operate within the culture one finds himself, but only after taking the entire Bible to heart. Nothing extra-biblical can be the key. But that doesn't mean that something biblical is necessarily the key either.
At 4:10 PM,
Anonymous said…
I am drawn to and prefer a church that promotes "the Bible, the whole Bible, and nothing but the Bible."
At 2:07 PM,
Jason said…
Taste and "effectiveness" get smushed together. People start thinking that that which gets them and their friends "in the mood", and has the slightest parallel in church history, is that which the church has been lacking.
In reading "Worship is a Verb" by Robert Webber, I appreciated his insight into liturgical history and different modes of expression in worship. I also appreciaed his opinions regarding what he felt to be most effective. But I don't think that they were presented as opinions, I think that they were presented as necessitous. In the first chapter of the book he talks about certain modern traditions and how they tie his stomach in knots. And I don't necessarily disagree in all of his references, but the way modern church makes him feel is presented as how it makes others feel, and therefore it all must go and change to that which does make him feel good.
My point in all of this is that all those words that you listed don't have to be bad until someone says that any one of them is necessary.
I don't disagree with all of what is said by those who currently live and die by those words, i just disagree with living and dying by them. There is only one thing to live and die by, Jesus Christ as revealed in His word.
Jason
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