The Church Series: Summary & Recap (Part 25)

We started a series on the church back in July of 2022 and a year and a half later we are wrapping It up.  Today we’re going to recap where we’ve been.  The big idea is that the church is not an institution … it’s an organism (it’s organic)! ·      There was equality- No clergy/laity divide ·      The giftings of the entire body were active to display Jesus ·      They met face to face throughout the week in relationships 7 Churches of Revelation (Nationalism and Dispensationalism) The point of looking at these 7 churches is that it pointed out Jesus’ ideals in his Body. Much of the issues here deals with the World seeping into the church.  Leadership and Oversight the glaring question we need to ask is “Are these offices or simply people using their god given gifts?”  Positional thinking is hung up on nouns, while functional thinking stresses verbs.  The view of oversight in the NT church is about the whole body operating in their giftings and being discipled by those who are wise, mature, and have the character of Christ in them. This is what leadership and oversight looks like rather than the CEO structure that focuses on offices and hierarchy which hurts the church.  5-Fold Ministry Ephesians 4 describes these as “ascension gifts” not “ascension offices”.  This entire chapter focuses on unity in the body of Christ, not positions which divide clergy from laity.Reimagining GiftsSpiritual gifts are not about hierarchy but about building up the body of Christ. The church is a body- a mutual and co-equal body- that reflects Jesus. There is no hierarchy in giftings. These giftings don’t lead to an office, though some might lead or administrate in their gifting better than others based on maturity and humility- we should all mutually submit to each other.  Reimagining Community ·      Spiritually- We need to be together in spiritual friendship gathering around the Way of Jesus, studying scripture, breaking bread, praying for each other. DEVOTED- They devoted themselves to these things. ·      Physically- meeting the needs of the community, being generous and being available.  ·      Emotionally- This is about completeness and transformation- How is our mindset and focus? Is it singularly on Jesus or is there entanglement with the world? ·      Missionally- Do we live in unity or are there offenses and divisions among us that we have swept under the rug? Division and disunity kills the mission to be lights to the world.  Reimagining Giving The main ideals of giving in the New Covenant: ·      Give Cheerfully ·      Take care of fellow believers (and support the work of the Lord)·      Care for the least of these ·      Celebrate God (see communion and the love feast in 1 Cor 11) Whenever the church gathers together, its guiding and functioning principal is simply to incarnate Christ (1 Cor 12:12) The Edenic Ideal: We always take everything back to God’s ideals. The Bible begins and ends with Eden. New Creation has broken into the present through the resurrection, so the church should be living according to God’s ideals in our communities even if the world looks completely opposite. God’s eternal purpose was to have a people in relationship with him working in equality under God’s kingship. This is God’s ideal for his church too. Each of us bringing our gifts to the altar/table and using them to image him to creation.  ·      The western view of leadership connected to authority, hierarchy, control, and covering has handcuffed the bride of Christ - making her ineffective for the kingdom.  ·      We need to get back to the servant mindset rather than the CEO leader mindset in the church ·      We need more feet washing and less discussions about “who’s your covering”  ·      More mutual submission and less “human headship” ·      More family, less institution ·      More verbs, less nouns