This article is an updated extract from my short book, Jesus, Disciple, Mission, Church (JDMC). The bite-sized piece below is roughly two percent of the book. This is the first part of the fifth forgotten way.
Introduction
The New Testament likens the church and the kingdom of heaven to various other things. These include the human body (1 Corinthians 12:27), farmers’ fields (1 Corinthians 3:9), the effect of yeast (Matthew 13:33), seeds (1 Corinthians 3:6) and trees (Luke 13:18-19). These are great illustrations because church actually does behave quite like a living thing. Church is alive! It is Christ’s body. Of course, church and kingdom are two different things; church is part of the King’s domain, though by no means all of it. But both are alive.
Think about it. The church grows, reproduces and responds to the world around it. It develops and matures; it spreads like seeds or a virus. The good news about Jesus spreads from one receptive person to the next as we talk about it and especially as we live it out. You can see all of this at work in the book of Acts. Some of the most astonishing Jesus movements have had loose network structures and have spread widely and rapidly. Think in terms of a forest or a city of people; each tree or citizen is like a local church while a movement is a network like a forest or city.
Jesus said, ‘I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it’ (Matthew 16:18). So what sort of environment has he provided in which this building (or growing) will take place? History shows that whenever there has been major growth in mission there has always been apostolic leadership at work.
It’s very important to encourage real life in church; we need to get the structure right for that and we will have to help the lifelike processes of growing and reproducing come to the fore. To do this, we must avoid too much organisation and control, things we tend to like because they make us feel useful and safe. But we shouldn’t be in control – Jesus should!
Discuss or consider – Talk about the structure and management of what you do. Are there things you need to change? Are there things you should stop doing How might you free people up and encourage more natural processes to take over.
Keep moving on
Think and talk about church as a movement. Aim to plant movements, not churches. Pay attention to stories of great movements past and present, read books about them, get excited about the possibilities.
Begin consciously behaving as a movement. Be fluid and adaptable, ready to take risks, build in lifelike structures, aim to multiply, dream and experiment, look into ways of changing from what you are to what you need to become. Remember that movements are networks; find as many ways as you can of connecting people really widely.
Discuss or consider – What might prevent you from moving forward? Talk about the way you think, your expectations and your goals. Are these as flexible as they need to be? When change becomes necessary, what forces might stand in the way? What is the difference between a movement and a church?
Structure for life
Change or remove anything and everything that stifles real life; good structures are very simple and easy to copy. Think about gardening rather than engineering because gardening involves living things. What is the easiest way to make a city? What is the easiest way to make a forest?
Remember that living things grow by themselves according to the life code (DNA) that is within them. An oak tree cannot produce grains of wheat and an acorn can never grow into a cabbage. In the same way, it’s impossible for the church to produce seeds of injustice and someone who continues to follow Jesus can never grow into a thief. Each grows according to its type. Jesus said we’d be known by the fruit we produce, either good or bad. Aim to produce plentiful, good fruit! (Matthew 7:15-20).
In other words, you don’t need to make the church grow. You can’t! All you can do is help the process start and provide the right conditions. Take good seed, bury it to the right depth in well tilled and manured ground, make sure it has enough water, keep away weeds and pests and your job is done. There will be a good harvest, but it might take a little time and patience.
Make sure leaders give power away, not hold onto it as the world tends to do; leaders should see themselves as servants (Matthew 20:25-28). Encourage every part of your group to think for itself, and give everyone the opportunity to use their gifts and interests freely and fully. What did Paul write about the body of Christ? (Ephesians 4:11-13) Encourage passion and ownership by telling great stories; invite people to act with boldness and ‘have a go’; involve everyone in planning. Celebrate every success; rethink and retry after every failure. Learn from every mistake and look for the positive aspects; never give up.
Share information as widely and openly as possible. Get apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers to explain what they do to everyone. Share any problems and talk about them; if possible become part of a wider network; welcome change whenever it’s needed. Don’t try to turn chaos into order but instead see if you can find meaning in the chaos. You may need to change your point of view or encourage others to say what they think.
It’s best to structure things around the passion, energy and life that you see in people. Everyone is a potential power house in their own, unique way so encourage them to be more active, not less. Don’t build ‘windbreaks’ that slow the wind down, instead build ‘windmills’ that harness its energy. Remove obstructions to active life and, when that is not possible, find alternative pathways to get around them. Build mission and church around people’s interests, and choose meeting times to avoid clashing with social gatherings in the wider community. Let go when something is no longer useful, support new ideas and fresh energy whenever they appear in the group.
Shared beliefs and purposes are great at holding networks together. So form common values, beliefs and practices and help newcomers to understand them. Find simple, clear, memorable ways to talk about them. Share the stories of the group’s origins often and in as many ways as possible. Encourage one another and tell people why you value them.
Discuss or consider – Spend some time right now to dig out the stories of how your group got started. Write these stories down; perhaps someone will
volunteer to collect them in a notebook or folder or post them to a blog.
Also, talk about the ideas in this section. How many of them are you already doing? List examples. Where do you need to do better?
More sections of JDMC
Introduction – JDMC, what does it contain? – Using JDMC – how to approach it
Working together in six ways – Intro and Way 1 – Ways 2, 3 and 4 – Ways 5 and 6, six ways
Way One, Jesus at the centre – Jesus at centre 1 – Jesus at centre 2 – Jesus at centre 3
Way Two, Becoming disciples – Disciples 1 – Disciples 2 – Disciples 3
Way Three, Outward and integrated – OutAndInt1, OutAndInt2
Way Four, Gifts for building – GiftsForBuilding1, GiftsForBuilding2
Way Five, A living organism – LivingOrg1, LivingOrg2
More sections will appear here…
The work of the Spirit – Intro – Jesus, disciples, outward – Gifts, living, community, help
Other church leaders – Intro, bishops, elders – Deacons, pastors, priests
Last words – The end can also be the beginning
< Previous | Index | Next >
Read the book
This was extracted from Jesus, Disciple, Mission, Church (JDMC), pages 17 and 18. Download the whole thing or read it online – GetJDMC.scilla.org.uk
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