Archive for June 4th, 2009
Church..Is It Missional, Emerging, Organic, Seeker, or Fundamental?
What Is Growing?
What is the church today? What is our purpose? What are we supposed to be doing? How are we doing what it is we are supposed to be doing provided we are doing what we are supposed to? Confused? I am of late.
Let me backtrack a bit. I’ve been reading some books on “Organic” church. I might add I’m enjoying them a lot but wondered if I hadn’t been organic all along? Was I fundamental too? Could I be a fundamental Christian while being organic too? All of my adult life, I’ve been told I’m a fundamental protestant. I’m told this is because I believe the bible is the Word of God. I believe it to be true and I hold it in highest regard as God’s rule of faith and practice in the life of a believer. I’m a teetotaler so that really makes me fundy so I’m told. I don’t drink alcohol and haven’t since my 20’s. I don’t see a need to overpay for it with everything else that’s available to drink. I don’t want to ruin my witness to my friends and neighbors and want to be controlled by the spirit, NOT the spirits! (Props to Greg Laurie for that word picture!).
I see a need for the church to get back to the true worship of God. Serving Him while serving others. Growing in my faith by deepening my knowledge of His Word. Making the Word a priority for my church families to learn and apply to their own lives. I stress growth in the spiritual disciplines. I want our church to be a praying church, a church that meditates on His word (Joshua 1:8), and a church that seeks to fulfill the great commission of Jesus. So what am I?
How do you define the new verbiage of faith? 20 years ago we were either Baptist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Pentecostal, Assemblies of God, or Four Square. Today, the denominational lingo has left us and we are either Emerging, Missional, Fundamental, Organic, or Seeker Sensitive. I love being a part of my denomination, the Free Will Baptists. I think it’s important that my church identify with a tradition that goes back hundreds of years in establishing God honoring churches. I’m proud of who I am and where I’ve come from. So what does that make me? Is my church pigeon holed because of it? Or..Can we build something different that honors God, our tradition, and is still very “organic” to those we serve?
Perhaps a blog series will develop from this. My point is, if you read the blogosphere for long, you will see the various camps slinging word grenades at one another. I must shake my head in wonder and ask myself how this honors God and how it builds His kingdom? How will this war of words win one soul to Jesus? At 42, am I too old for this? I don’t think so. I just feel like I have one foot in the past (and a glorious one it has been), and one foot in the present (what great opportunities await!). Can I have the best of both and be unique? Do I have to label it? Do you?
Your thoughts are welcome and encouraged. Please add to the discussion…
