George Fox the founder of Quakerism told 17th century England the church was not a building but the people in whose hearts Christ dwelt by faith, and that no piece of ground was any more sacred than the other. Jesus prayed for his followers to be in the world but not of the world. It seems to me we have done just the opposite and set up sacred space apart from the world where only the so called holy dare enter. I see the emerging church breaking through those walls and barriers built by centuries of tradition and theology, and once again becoming a force in the world rather than a fortress. And in that frame of mind, church happens – where two or three are gathered together, or when we feed the hungry or clothe the naked or shelter the homeless, or take care of the hurting, or in any other way bring the kingdom values to bear on this world. Then church isn’t a place we go, it’s a thing we do 24/7 so that God’s kingdom does come and his will is done “on earth as in heaven.”
It’s not that the phrase ‘the church is made up of the people and not the buildings in which we meet’ is not fully understood and oft referred to, it’s just that actions either support or cut the ground from under the words we speak or the concepts we espouse.
So here’s the crunch – nearly every ‘church’ has a fabric committee of some sort (which incidentally over the life cycle of the church lays claim to the lion’s share of the budget), but how many have a ‘living stones’ committee.
I have been wondering why many longer term Christians go all misty eyed when they talk about the energy and innovation with which newer disciples seem to approach pretty much everything.
Whilst it is a mistake to compare the church to a business (although many seem to be run like one – and one that probably deserves to go in to administration at that), a key part in these reflections are well described in a coming book by Steve Denning where he observes…
Total Attorneys is a rapidly growing Chicago-based company that provides services and software to small law firms. Like many successful companies, when it began as a start-up in 2002, Total Attorneys was highly energized: work was done on the fly, new products were developed, new markets opened and new customers were identified.
But as the firm grew, departments were formed, processes and structures were put in place, work slowed down and staff morale deteriorated. In some cases, Total Attorneys moved so slowly that by the time its software was completed, the client wanted something different. By 2008, with around 160 employees, Total Attorneys had gone from being an exciting place to work to just another bureaucracy.
In ‘Six Charlies in search of an Arthur’, the Goon’s Ned declared that ‘I haven’t got any bones’, Grytpype-Thynne, another of the Goon’s best loved characters responded – ‘Nonsense, nonsense, you'd fall down without them - you'd fall DOWN without them’.
The question for us is, by freeing ourselves from the structure’s (strictures?) of which we have become so familiar and comfortable, will we fall down without them?
I’ve heard some people talk about the affect of becoming embroiled in the church machine and the ongoing impact it appears to have on so many, in terms of the ‘loss of a first love’ – but I know many people who have certainly moved in to a long-lasting faithfulness to a ministry that expounds a deep loving commitment to Jesus.
But if people do lose their first love only to replace it with a set of comfortable parameters, practices and rotas, then we should not sit by and let the current crop of newbies receive the church as we have created it – rather we should join with them in living out the kingdom of God as Jesus demonstrated it….
…then church isn’t a place we go, it’s a thing we do 24/7 so that God’s kingdom does come and his will is done “on earth as in heaven.”
It’s not that the phrase ‘the church is made up of the people and not the buildings in which we meet’ is not fully understood and oft referred to, it’s just that actions either support or cut the ground from under the words we speak or the concepts we espouse.
So here’s the crunch – nearly every ‘church’ has a fabric committee of some sort (which incidentally over the life cycle of the church lays claim to the lion’s share of the budget), but how many have a ‘living stones’ committee.
I have been wondering why many longer term Christians go all misty eyed when they talk about the energy and innovation with which newer disciples seem to approach pretty much everything.
Whilst it is a mistake to compare the church to a business (although many seem to be run like one – and one that probably deserves to go in to administration at that), a key part in these reflections are well described in a coming book by Steve Denning where he observes…
Total Attorneys is a rapidly growing Chicago-based company that provides services and software to small law firms. Like many successful companies, when it began as a start-up in 2002, Total Attorneys was highly energized: work was done on the fly, new products were developed, new markets opened and new customers were identified.
But as the firm grew, departments were formed, processes and structures were put in place, work slowed down and staff morale deteriorated. In some cases, Total Attorneys moved so slowly that by the time its software was completed, the client wanted something different. By 2008, with around 160 employees, Total Attorneys had gone from being an exciting place to work to just another bureaucracy.
In ‘Six Charlies in search of an Arthur’, the Goon’s Ned declared that ‘I haven’t got any bones’, Grytpype-Thynne, another of the Goon’s best loved characters responded – ‘Nonsense, nonsense, you'd fall down without them - you'd fall DOWN without them’.
The question for us is, by freeing ourselves from the structure’s (strictures?) of which we have become so familiar and comfortable, will we fall down without them?
I’ve heard some people talk about the affect of becoming embroiled in the church machine and the ongoing impact it appears to have on so many, in terms of the ‘loss of a first love’ – but I know many people who have certainly moved in to a long-lasting faithfulness to a ministry that expounds a deep loving commitment to Jesus.
But if people do lose their first love only to replace it with a set of comfortable parameters, practices and rotas, then we should not sit by and let the current crop of newbies receive the church as we have created it – rather we should join with them in living out the kingdom of God as Jesus demonstrated it….
…then church isn’t a place we go, it’s a thing we do 24/7 so that God’s kingdom does come and his will is done “on earth as in heaven.”
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