Just finishing up Exiles by Michael Frost -- good book, recommend it to everybody.
Anyway, in talking about the flow of how what we think of "church" happens -- referring the "church" event, Frost makes several very good points about the communal worship experience needing to flow out of a community of people who love God, are part of his mission -- feel a sent of joint sentness -- coming together to corporately to express their worship of God together. A couple of points that were particularly interesting, first, Frost's list of distinctive between an audience and a church (which sounds more like you when you enter your church?)
Audience:
1. Critical (you paid money and you want a decent show)
2. Unconnected to anybody else (highly individual)
3. Expectant (hoping the show will be good)
4. No relationship with the performers
5. Facing the same direction
6. Focused on receiving not giving
7 Generally passive
8. Easily Bored
9. Expected Norms (You'll be silent, you'll stay seated until the end)
Church
1. A family of deep trusting relationships
2. A body of interconnected, interrelated parts
3. Everyone is gifted and expected to contribute
4. Compassionate, caring
5. Generous, hospitable
6. Focused on giving
7. High priority on unity
8. A royal priesthood, everyone enjoying access to God.
Which one of these two, call them A or B as opposed to church or audience actually looks more like most of our churches? Which one of these looks more like what is described as church in the bible.
You say, "oh, that's our small group, not our church."
Exactly.
1 comment:
You know what's weird? It *does* sound like our small group and not so much about the larger church.
But here's the question: does this imply that 'normal' church life should be small groups? Or does it imply that we, in 21st century USA haven't a clue about how to create authentic community on a "church" sized scale?
As I've been reflecting on small-church big-church debates over the last six months, I'm *hoping* that the proper question is the later. And I begin to see it in several well-done large-church environments.
But - and here's the thing - there will always be those who prefer their church to be small. And there will always be those who prefer their church to be big and their involvement with that community to be with a small group. I think that's a matter of personal preference, not Biblical ecclesiology.
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