30 hallmarks - 22-28: and finally...

Think it's time to get this marathon finished before the new year! So here's a burst of the remaining 8 hallmarks of emerging, simple churches.

22: Constipation in the church. A congregation without a working excretory system will have a lot of pain! We're talking about sin here! Easier done in a small context of trusting relationships where the Holy Spirit has free reign.

23: Sinners or saints? Although John reflects the paradox in this in his first letter, the truth is that sinning is 'out of character' for the believer. We are saints. There is no underclass of sinner, while a superior, more holy class of professional clergy exists. That is total nonsense.

24: Perseverance or victory?

25: Spiritual growth or stagnation? Do you want a weekly spiritual fix or a daily encouragement to spiritual growth?

26: Hitting the wall or not? Traditional churches tend to hit a wall when they reach certain numbers, 100, 200 etc depending on the ability of the head minister. Small organic churches in networks just keep on going. With new leaders being constantly developed there is no growth limit.

27: The devils worst nightmare. This happens when all these churches come together, not for a polished, front-led 'celebration' but an opportunity for the army of ordinary christians to bring their powerful contributions and share them with the whole body.

28: The old gets older, the new newer. You just can't put new wine in old wineskins. That's sad but true.

29: Bosses or brothers? What would you prefer? A hierarchy of church leaders telling you what to think or how to behave? Or a warm circle of devoted friends who are committed to you come what may? NOWHERE in the NT does it say that one believer should be another's boss.

The word 'Pastor' appears once in the NT, 'Overseer' four times, 'Elder' five times, BROTHERS 346 times!!

Archeologists have fragments or whole parts of around 500,000 papyrus from the early christian era; NOT ONE of these papyrus makes any reference to a clergy man. There is no mention of a priest, minister or pastor or any other term for any office or any kind of leadership!

30: The church where YOU matter. In a small open-church you are important. Needed. Loved. This is about family. A family that also cares about those next door.

Knock on most doors & they'll bleed.

posted by alexander @ 12:24 PM    2 comments

2 Comments:

Thank you for posting these things. Now I wonder if any house group has experienced what Jim Rutz is saying in these thirty points. The best line is “knock on most doors and they’ll bleed. That in itself will involve cost. Because this will involve cost I believe we need channels of discipleship. People do not just naturally go out there and make friends with non believers…… They need equipping.
So where do we go from here. I am finding blogs so very redundant. Alexander do you know of any small group that is taking seriously the call to go knocking on doors that bleed……… If you do let me know. We would like to contact them so that we may be edified and encouraged to do likewise in our context. I’ll end with a quote from Alan Roxburgh
“We are in a moment when the deconstruction and critique of existing maps needs to be wedded to a company of people willing to risk forth upon the seas to discover the holy gusts of the Spirit pulling us to new lands and worlds that can’t be imagined yet.”

By  frank, at 6:01 PM  

Frank hi, I cant remember where you are based? USA, Canada? Anyway the answer to your question is yes. There are organic, simple churches which are making disciples who are making disciples. Here in Bath we dont 'knock on doors' in the traditional sense - partly because Luke 10 indicates that we dont need to go from house to house! Instead we pray for people of peace to invite us into their homes. As a result of doing this for example we shared Christmas eve with 2 muslim families; sharing from the Bible and praying blessing upon them and their families back home in Iran. Neil Cole of church multiplication associates have seen nearly 800 small organic churches planted in the last 6 years. That must have involved some risk taking!

By  alexander, at 12:01 PM  

Post a Comment

---