Reinstating the communal meal

Can we, should we, reinstate the communal meal in at least some of our table rituals? If so, do small group settings become necessasry, even in larger congregations? And what kind of liturgical spaces will then be needed? Can we, should we, allow for the wide variety of activities that characterized first century worship? In particular, can we open ourselves to the Spirit’s guidance so that a rich array of charismata can come into play? Is it possible for us to conduct some of what we call church business within periods of eucharistic worship? Can we allow prayerful discernment to shape our decision making on these matters? Can we begin to see our eucharistic services, from start to finish, as missionary events during which visitors are brought closer to the Body of Christ and the Kingdom, whatever the level of their participation, and we so-called insiders are built up for our vocation as witnesses of the gospel?

– John Koenig, Feast of the World’s Redemption : p. 237.

 

Seekers or consumers?

The question, however, is how far we should go in shaping the gospel message to fit the expectations and thought forms of the culture. When does the ‘seeker’ become a ‘consumer’ and begin demanding from the church an accommodation that distorts the gospel? In other words, when does Church Growth pragmatism hit the fan of a biblical theology of the church? The expenditure of emotional energy, material resources, and personal commitment to meet the high expectations of affluent, self-focused people diverts the church’s resources from global missions and social justice ministry…

– Douglas Webster in Evaluating the Church Growth Movement, p. 259.

 

Reclaiming innocence: believing in Christianity after being disillusioned

We can choose to reclaim our innocence together. We can insist that hope is real and that a group of people who love God and others really can change the world. We can reclaim our idealism and our belief and our confidence in the big ideas that stir us deep in our bones. We can commit all the more to being the kinds of people who are learning how to do what Jesus teaches us.

– Rob Bell, Velvet Elvis: p. 176.

 

Fullness of Christ

His gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers… for building up the body of Christ… until we attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God… to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.– Ephesians 4:11-13, RSV

 

Various N.T. Wright quotes on Justification

If you take the old route of putting justification, in its traditional meaning at the centre of your theology, then you will always be in danger of sustaining some sort of individualism. This wasn’t so much of a problem in Augustine’s or even in Luther’s day when society was much more bound together than it is now. But… in contemporary post-modernism individualism has been all the rage…

Justification is itself the ecumenical doctrine, the doctrine that rebukes all our petty and often culture-bound church groupsings, and which declares that all who believe in Jesus belong together in the one family.

Justification declares that all who believe in Jesus Christ belong at the same table, no matter what their cultural or racial differences.

One is not justified by faith by believing in justification by faith. One is justified by faith by believing in Jesus.

– N.T. Wright, What Saint Paul Really Said

 

Church buildings

True, buildings can and do carry memories, and when people have been praying and worshipping and mourning and celebrating in a particular building for many years, the building itself may come to speak powerfully of God’s welcoming presence.
– N.T. Wright from Simply Christian

 

Christian community is a political reality

The Christian community, like any community held together by commitment to important values, IS a political reality.

– John Yoder, Body Politics, viii

 

Preacher reframing questions

The task of the preacher or teacher is to reframe the questions in ways more faithfully responsive to Paul’s vision for the community. We need to learn anew how to talk about sexual issues – and other moral matters – as people who belong to the Lord, people whose moral decisions are shaped not by personal preference or expediency but by the desire to glorify God in our bodies.

– Richard Hays 1 Corinthians [commentary]: 109

 

Some people share all their struggles, but they ha…

Some people share all their struggles, but they have no intention of ever changing. Instead, they expect deep sharing to bring them a certain cathartic experience. While this may be helpful, only transformation will produce the desired result.

 

Preparing questions for a small group

The facilitator normally prepares (or is given) three to five questions based on God’s Word. These questions should promote open discussion among the members. A good rule of thumb in preparing these questions is to ask yourself each question beforehand and discern if you yourself could openly discuss the question – or can it be answered with just yes or no answers?

– Joel Comiskey, The Spirit filled small group: p. 61

 

Becoming family in the church

We become family as we experience conflict with each other. The process of sharing our differences and facing the problems we have with each other can actually bring us closer together…. Hiding our differences, on the other hand, can create distance as we gradually increase the number of subjects about which we cannot talk to each other.

– Lois Barrett, Building the house church : 79

 

Putting the eating back into meeting!

The Lord’s Supper was actually more a substantial supper with a symbolic
meaning, than a symbolic supper with substantial meaning. God is restoring
eating back into our meeting.

– Wolfgang Simson, Houses that change the world, p. xxii.

I am writing an article for Oikos magazine at the moment on the Lord’s Supper as a shared meal, and just have to use this quote.

 

Anabaptists have a treasure hidden in the field of…

Anabaptists have a treasure hidden in the field of their common life. It is a vision of church which has the stamp of the kingdom of God upon it. Even though its followers were horribly silenced, neither their work nor their vision is finished. I believe God has buried in the common life of these peace-loving people a vision to be preserved until the proper time. And it is their unique vision of church which lies at the core of Anabaptist identity.

– Walfred Fahrer, Building on the rock: a Biblical vision of being church together from an Anabaptist-Mennonite perspective 13

 

Law of love

There is no law but that of love. Love means having joy in others. Then what does being annoyed with them mean? Words of love convey the joy we have in the presence of brothers and sisters. By the same token it is out of the question to speak about a Brotherhood member in a spirit of irritation and vexation. There must never be talk, either in open remarks or by insinuation, against a brother or a sister, against their individual characteristics – under no circumstances behind their backs. Without the rule of silence there can be no loyalty, no community.

– Eberhard Arnold, God’s Revolution, 130

 

Hermeneutics and ethics : drawing a line to Jesus

But it is an attitude, a ‘feel’ as to how you work when you are in the church. Whatever your question is, you can somehow draw a line from Jesus to there, and thereby throw light on your question. It may well be done in different ways with different kinds of reasoning, but always something of this being involved in the person of Jesus – something of the solidarity of Christ with all people.

– John Yoder, Preface to theology 106

 

Political in different ways

The difference between church and state or between a faithful and an unfaithful church is not that one is political and the other is not, but that they are political in different ways.– John Yoder, Body Politics: ix

 

Why did the church gather?

Why did the ekklesia gather? Most evangelicals, and indeed Christians of nearly all persuasions, traditionally answer that churches met for worship. Paul’s consistent answer was “to build each other up” (1 Cor 14:26; Eph 4:11-16; Col 3:15-16). The members met to use their personal endowments from the Spirit for the common good. They prayed, read Scripture, encouraged, sang, taught, and prophesised to one another as the Spirit enabled them. Paul never defined ekklesia in terms of a vertical relationship of worship. The meeting was for one another. The gathering was a conversation – a rich, diverse, extended conversation.

– Mark Strom, Reframing Paul