Theological Grounding
Ecclesiology – Be Church
As we look forward to the birth of our community/church, we hope that what develops is a living symbol of the body of Christ. We feel that the term church has come to mean may other things than what we understand it to be. Many people think of “church” as the people who gather together on Sunday mornings to have a worship service and perhaps at other times for potluck dinners, rummage sales, and other events. We believe that there is much more to church than this, although this understanding is far better than defining “church” as the building we gather in for these events.
When we were little, many of us learned the song that said, “The church is not a building. The church is not a steeple. The Church is not a resting place. The church is the people”. But how many of us actually live up to this ecclesiology (fancy word for “What is Church?”)
The church is the people. Even more than that, the church is the people who are devoted to living out a life of faith in Jesus Christ. The church is not the people who gather together on Sundays and for other events. The church is the people who are all members of the Body of Christ. People do not become the church when they walk through the doors of a particular building.
The church is the people who are members of the Body of Christ. Every day, every hour, every minute, “I am the church. You are the church. We are the church together”. Our community, in a very intimate way, hopes to symbolize through communal living, common possessions, shared meals, corporate prayer, etc… what it means to live out our calling to Be Church. The church that we are planting also hopes to incarnate this understanding of a 24/7 living of the Gospel message. We hope to disciple others so that they might live out their faith and be the church in every moment of their lives.
Relationality
Our understanding of relationship begins with our understanding of God. In God’s very nature we find relationship. God as Trinity is three persons united in a holy mystery. These three persons of God are not individual persons who are isolated from each other. They are three persons in relationship within one another. As creatures who are created in the image of God. Therefore, we reflect God’s nature and are also persons united through relationship with God and one another. Following from this understanding of the nature of God and the nature of humans as creatures made in the image of God we can say that the church is not just made up of individuals living out their faith in isolation. Members of the church are individuals in relationship with others. First and foremost, members of the body of Christ have are in a personal relationship with Jesus. Other relationships that exist are with other members of the body, those who are not a part of out faith tradition, those of other faith traditions, and many more. As a specific incarnation of the body of Christ, living in a particular location, our church will also be in relationship with our neighbors. Although all people who we encounter are our neighbors, in this case I am referring very literally to those who live next to us.
Transformation
As an incarnational expression of the body of Christ in relationship with Jesus, one another, and our neighbors one of our goals is transformation. As we live out our faith 24/7, we believe that Christ will be present to all those who we encounter. Through the movement of the Holy Spirit within our church and the lives of those we encounter, we expect to see lives transformed. As individuals are touched by the love of Christ through the Holy Spirit, we believe that their lives will be transformed. As our community lives out our faith within the context of a surrounding neighborhood, we believe that that neighborhood will be transformed. As we faithfully live out our calling to Be Church, we believe that our lives, the lives of those we touch, and the community in which we are located will be transformed in order to experience life as Jesus promised us.
Truth or truth
Christians have often claimed that there is one Truth that believers must ascribe too. This Truth has usually been understood as correct propositional statements about what one believes. Although the claim has been that there is one absolute Truth (usually said to be presented in Scripture) the reality has been that Christians have argued for centuries about different truths that they hold. We do not ascribe to one absolute set of propositions about God that we call the Truth. In fact many things can be said about God that are at the same time true and untrue at the same time (but this is a larger conversation for a different time).
We believe that God, not something that we say about God, is the Truth. Jesus, as the living Word of God is the Truth. Therefore, the Truth is not something that we say about God. The Truth is someone to be in relationship with. Again our focus on relationship becomes quite important as we believe that being in the Truth means living in relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
As we look forward to the birth of our community/church, we hope that what develops is a living symbol of the body of Christ. We feel that the term church has come to mean may other things than what we understand it to be. Many people think of “church” as the people who gather together on Sunday mornings to have a worship service and perhaps at other times for potluck dinners, rummage sales, and other events. We believe that there is much more to church than this, although this understanding is far better than defining “church” as the building we gather in for these events.
When we were little, many of us learned the song that said, “The church is not a building. The church is not a steeple. The Church is not a resting place. The church is the people”. But how many of us actually live up to this ecclesiology (fancy word for “What is Church?”)
The church is the people. Even more than that, the church is the people who are devoted to living out a life of faith in Jesus Christ. The church is not the people who gather together on Sundays and for other events. The church is the people who are all members of the Body of Christ. People do not become the church when they walk through the doors of a particular building.
The church is the people who are members of the Body of Christ. Every day, every hour, every minute, “I am the church. You are the church. We are the church together”. Our community, in a very intimate way, hopes to symbolize through communal living, common possessions, shared meals, corporate prayer, etc… what it means to live out our calling to Be Church. The church that we are planting also hopes to incarnate this understanding of a 24/7 living of the Gospel message. We hope to disciple others so that they might live out their faith and be the church in every moment of their lives.
Relationality
Our understanding of relationship begins with our understanding of God. In God’s very nature we find relationship. God as Trinity is three persons united in a holy mystery. These three persons of God are not individual persons who are isolated from each other. They are three persons in relationship within one another. As creatures who are created in the image of God. Therefore, we reflect God’s nature and are also persons united through relationship with God and one another. Following from this understanding of the nature of God and the nature of humans as creatures made in the image of God we can say that the church is not just made up of individuals living out their faith in isolation. Members of the church are individuals in relationship with others. First and foremost, members of the body of Christ have are in a personal relationship with Jesus. Other relationships that exist are with other members of the body, those who are not a part of out faith tradition, those of other faith traditions, and many more. As a specific incarnation of the body of Christ, living in a particular location, our church will also be in relationship with our neighbors. Although all people who we encounter are our neighbors, in this case I am referring very literally to those who live next to us.
Transformation
As an incarnational expression of the body of Christ in relationship with Jesus, one another, and our neighbors one of our goals is transformation. As we live out our faith 24/7, we believe that Christ will be present to all those who we encounter. Through the movement of the Holy Spirit within our church and the lives of those we encounter, we expect to see lives transformed. As individuals are touched by the love of Christ through the Holy Spirit, we believe that their lives will be transformed. As our community lives out our faith within the context of a surrounding neighborhood, we believe that that neighborhood will be transformed. As we faithfully live out our calling to Be Church, we believe that our lives, the lives of those we touch, and the community in which we are located will be transformed in order to experience life as Jesus promised us.
Truth or truth
Christians have often claimed that there is one Truth that believers must ascribe too. This Truth has usually been understood as correct propositional statements about what one believes. Although the claim has been that there is one absolute Truth (usually said to be presented in Scripture) the reality has been that Christians have argued for centuries about different truths that they hold. We do not ascribe to one absolute set of propositions about God that we call the Truth. In fact many things can be said about God that are at the same time true and untrue at the same time (but this is a larger conversation for a different time).
We believe that God, not something that we say about God, is the Truth. Jesus, as the living Word of God is the Truth. Therefore, the Truth is not something that we say about God. The Truth is someone to be in relationship with. Again our focus on relationship becomes quite important as we believe that being in the Truth means living in relationship with God through Jesus Christ.