We will not meet today, as a part of the group's plan. But we probably wouldn't've anyway because Evie's not feeling well due, as much as anything, to the emotional burden of caring for my parents and of dealing with stresses on her job. We both are extremely tired but she carries a much heavier burden than do I and it is catching up with her. And, because she is what is called our "person of peace," the drain of the gathering at our home is also heavy on her.
So, today is a much needed day off for both of us.
On another thread, I'm considering big-picture issues relating to the denomination that we, in our community of gatherings, seem to be more committed to than the denomination is to us. Here, I will reflect on big-picture issues on the level of our community of gatherings. Doing this will be more difficult because it is closer to home both literally and metaphorically.
We are on a journey that seems to be far more purpose driven than the one the CGGC is mapping out for itself. Yet, at the same time, while the CGGC's is rooted in strategic planning, ours is, by purpose, unplanned. Success for us will be determined by continued faithfulness to our guiding purpose(s). Success for the CGGC will be determined, if I understand it, in a very important way, in an increase in nickels and noses and the number of Sunday Shows affiliated with the organization's brand.
It is true that Evelyn is our person of peace, particularly in the group that meets in our home on Sundays. I remain, however, the, well, visionary, of the community--the prophet. For the most part, the purpose or purposes that guide us have come to the community as a result of convictions I have as a result of my study of the Word and meditation and of my conviction that we should be imitating, as closely as possible in our time and place what Jesus and His first followers actually DID.
As I take stock of where we are and compare it to where we were, say, a year ago, it strikes me that the community-the church-means less to us than ever. We are less and less concerned with the gathering than we have ever been and more and more about being disciples and making disciples out of each other than we have ever been. Along with that conviction comes a yearning to live as Kingdom builders in our lives beyond the gathering.
Please understand. Our love for each other grows and our commitment to each other increases. But, our love for the Lord and His Kingdom and His righteousness seems to trump even the love one another aspect of our lives together.
As I read the Gospels, this way of life seems close to what Jesus modeled and taught on a disciple by disciple level.
He, of course, was almost never quoted as even mentioning the church in the Gospels.
Are we perfect? Of course not! We are not nearly as concerned as we should be with bringing people who have not repented and believed the gospel to Christ. What we lack there, I am convinced, is people with apostolic and evangelistic gifting.
Am I wrong to blame the denomination for that, at least in part?
There is a conviction that has taken root in my spirit that I have never put into words in any of our gatherings. I have never even spoken it in a private conversation with Evelyn that, it seems to me, is taking root in our community. At one time, I actually assumed the opposite to be true. It is this:
ReplyDeleteThe concepts of the externally focused church and kingdom orientation do NOT go hand in hand.
Back in the hay day of Brian Miller's blog, I definitely believed that they did. And I think all of us did.
Recently, I have come to understand that church focus, in any form, cannot be kingdom focus. If church is your baseline, kingdom is not.
Jesus didn't plant churches. He gathered with a core group of people but not to hold church services. The time He spent with those people He invested in preparing them to be ambassadors for His Kingdom.
In our community of gatherings, we are becoming more and more oriented to making Kingdom ambassadors out of each other and less and less focused on the importance of gathering to be a church.
Oddly, I think that I am too extreme on this point. However, I also think that I am being true to my gifting to live as a prophet.
What we lack is a apostolic community with which we can participate translocally and cooperatively, which is what I see taking place in the New Testament.
In my opinion, it is the responsibility of the Conference and General Conference to empower those entities.
Anyway, this ambassador thing being the case and considering the lack of translocal support, I wonder what our community of gatherings will be in a year.
We will see.