We know that a person’s picture or understanding of who God is shapes everything: The way they read scripture, serve, pray—the way they interact with family, friends, Jesus followers and the rest of society. Much has been said regarding this truth. Our “God worldview” informs our thoughts, desires, and behavior.
What is also true is that our picture and understanding of the Church directly shapes how we engage with it: both the way we orient ourselves to other believers, and even how we interpret and respond to God’s direction in our lives.
For many, delving into “what is and isn’t the church” sounds like an exhausting and time consuming effort—for a question which, we assume, has already been answered. After all, we have a long history to refer to and, after years of debate, don’t we have a pretty consistent expression of church life amid the many styles of church experience? There are definitely differences among churches, but at 50,000 feet, there is a form we all recognize.
But a tension remains. We all see that there is a difference between the church identified in the New Testament and the organizations we interact with today. We understand that a church is not an organization or place, or even a meeting or activity. It is something holy, something created by God alone. And still, minutes after such an acknowledgement, we’ll find ourselves verbally and conceptually confusing the two. “Where do you go to church?”, “Church was great this week.”, “That is {lead pastor’s name}’s church”. This is not unusual language; it’s used every day, and it invariably confuses our understanding (and again, our behavior as a result).
The point is, we likely have a confused and co-opted understanding of what the church is, and that has a dramatic impact on how we operate in our local believing communities as well as in the city-wide body of Christ followers in Cincinnati.
This is not an attack on what we know of church today. I’m not really interested in changing any of the methodologies, and certainly not the existence, of these organizations right now. Rather I’d like to clarify the present “church” system as the vital missional vehicle it is—a place where we can join together en masse to reach out and be the church to the world—while highlighting the distinct need for and expression of a gathering where believers are able to ‘be the church’ to each other. What I mean is, we can’t really encourage each other personally, or prophesy, or unleash apostles in our giant meetings of hundreds and thousands. We need forums for exercising and receiving spiritual gifts for the good of everyone, as described in passages like 1 Corinthians 14. This is more than a small group and distinct from the traditional church worship and teaching experience.
So, while it may be difficult and uncomfortable to do so, we must take some time to deconstruct our inherited understanding of these things and construct a Biblically accurate picture of the body and believing community (as well as the various organizations and ministries that exist to serve the body) in our city. In doing so we must reconsider our understanding of several key conecepts like clergy, giving, leadership, the traditional sacraments, eldership, evangelism, discipleship, and much more.
We must get clear on this and properly orient ourselves to each other, missional efforts and the church at large. This site is an outlet and touch-point for this effort.
Let us become more like Christ by submitting our experiences and organizations to the Biblical (and historical) picture of actual church life. Let us learn to function even more as the (true, not organizational) church in our informal gatherings. Let us be even more on mission in our organized church communities. And let us be even more the unified body that glorifies God in the city—The Church of Cincinnati.
Take from this only what resonates in your heart and spirit.
Next: The Church and the Missional Organization
