I believe this movement of God has been around since the beginning of the Church. Smaller gatherings of people praising God and celebrating life with Jesus Christ is the DNA of the Church at large. I think Elton has some neat things to say about this.
The Company of the Committed
by Elton Trueblood
Harper & Row, New York, 1961
pg. 10-11
"The Conversion of the Church"
"This phrase provides the real justification of the labor of writing books such as this. We have reason to believe that civilization cannot be redeemed without the Church as a redemptive society, but the disturbing thought, which must always be matched with this one, is that the Church as we know it is not now good enough to fulfill its redemptive function. The basic trouble is that the proposed cure has such a striking similarity to the disease. No one denomination has the perfect pattern and , furthermore, no church has the right to be proud. I do not know precisely what the true Church is, but I am certain that it is different from and better mine. We do not seek a victory from any of the existing groups, as thou Christianity were engaged in an internal power struggle. Indeed, it is important for us to realize that words like "Catholic," "Protestant," and "Evangelical" have become so ambiguous as to be virtually meaningless. Nor is mere union of the denominations our primary need if we are to have renewal. The movement we need is a movement in depth, and if it is deep enough the problem of unity will take care of itself. As lines go down vertically from the surface of the earth they necessarily come nearer to one another. In any case, the divided condition of the modern Church is by no means its greatest evil or weakness. We could stand division if we had genuine commitment to Christ and His cause."
I would like to chew on this for a couple of days. I believe the truth and wisdom in this little bit is found in the "Depth" of the movement... Not the "separateness" of the movement.
I believe that if House Churches / Simple Churches are going to be the movement that redeems the world, we are in desperate need of understanding how to encourage our "traditional" brothers as we ourselves embark on uncharted relationships with neighbors, co-workers, and friends.
May God teach us all to bless and encourage each other as we seek to impact our world for Jesus Christ.
1 comment:
Bill, you hit the nail squarely on the head with this comment ... "I believe the truth and wisdom in this little bit is found in the "Depth" of the movement... Not the "separateness" of the movement." This is key to the survival of the "movement". We need to have deep roots firmly imbedded in the person of Jesus Christ that are also intertwined with those our of Brothers and Sisters. Jesus must be our focus, not the movement, not the methods, not the organization, not the leaders. Here is a comment that I made the other day on Jimmy Bennett's blog http://www.livejournal.com/users/ucsdfalcon titled "My Generation":
"The Jesus Movement didn't go far enough because WE became important. The thing about the Jesus Movement that made it spread so fast was that it was a "God thing" and Jesus was central, when the Movement became the focus it died. When the church tried to cash in on it, package it, and sell it it lost its edge. The movement no longer was a revolution that was changing the way people met God (on the street corners, in the park, on the beach), the Movement became a method to lure youth INTO the church rather than the church going OUT into all the world."
As with all revolutions, when the focus shifts from the "cause" to the "preservation of position" it becomes just an other corrupt dictatorship.
Jesus said that we can do nothing unless we remain securely attached to him.
Be a blessing and be blessed!
Peace, Love, and Light through Jesus the Christ! (John 14:6)
Kevin
www.geocities.com/gathered_in_his_name
Post a Comment