The Achilles Heel In Dave Williams' Definition of a Life-Giving Church

I've now seen Dave's diagram (in the form of a building...a BUILDING) to describe what a life-giving church is.

Of course, there is no place in the New Testament that says to a church, "Be life-giving" or "Be a healthy, life-giving church."

To Dave's credit, he doesn't ignore the Word, as many on the various CGGC mountaintops have done in recent decades.

The question I was asking myself, even beforehand, has been if Dave will merely foist his own ideas, and the ideas of the Shepherd Mafia, on Scripture.

Obviously, we can disagree about interpretation but I will offer this fact regarding Dave's definition of a life-giving church which is a fact which cannot be disputed.

Dave's definition of a life-giving church has four "rooms" in the building plus a foundation. Each of these Dave supports with a verse or a passage of Scripture. In all, Dave cites 21 verses of Scripture.

The word "church" is absent in all 21 verses. The word church doesn't appear even one time in the verses Dave uses to define a life-giving church. 

I have some big-picture thoughts about the significance of Dave's whole scheme and I'll probably say more later but, for now, briefly:

1. It's like an old fashioned topical sermon: Five Characteristics of a Life-Giving Church.
First point--"It says that Jesus is lord." Second point, etc.... Of course, the preacher picks the points in a topical sermon, jumping hither and yon around the Bible so that the whole thing may be from the Bible but the truth in it is the preacher's truth.

2. Clearly, even worse, it's eisegetical, or, it starts with Dave's opinion and imposes that opinion on Scripture. It does not draw truth from Scripture. The passages Dave uses don't mention church. In context, they are not about the church. Dave makes them about church and goes further and makes them about a life-giving church.

3. Disastrously for our future, this is the sort of thing, coming down from CGGC mountaintoppers for decades, that has added fuel to the incredible cynicism that abounds across the body. People know that this is Dave's opinion. Generally, I think most of us like Dave. But, are we going to go bonkers and alter our ministries around what's obvious is only his opinion?

Same old, same old.

We need to change. We must repent.